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The second is farther away.

Then the third.

Fourth.

Soon, I lose count. I measure my progress in layers of determination and the blood dripping from my hands, split from holding the heavy stones. A fresh wave of tears blurs the forming mound of stones. I wipe away my tears and return to the task at hand, each step a different memory. Of Esther. Of her father, my Master Teller, Marrow. Of my own father, Lark, who I only know from glimpses of the past.

A man who passed away somewhere on this same mountainside.

I work through the last remnants of night, ignoring the exhaustion weighing my bones, until the final stone is placed on Esther’s grave.

“I don’t know if I can do this.” I inhale slowly and lower myself to the ground next to the mound. My truth, offered up to the overwhelming surrounding silence. Only the distant rush of the waterfall accompanies the beating of my broken heart. My eyes hurt, swollen from crying. Blood crusts around my fingers. My chest aches, and sweat beads down the side of my temple.

And yet, the sun crests over the horizon. A marker of time. You will endure, the Sun Goddess says with her beaming rays of golden hues. I will come again the next day, and the next, to ensure you do so.

I rest my head on the rock and squeeze my eyes shut. Just for a moment, nothing else matters beyond honoring my friend. Where the pressure of being a Starwatcher doesn’t exist.

“Wait…” I reach for the golden staff on the ground and stand, digging into my pocket to pull out the Sun Stone. “The Helios Blessing, a stone known for protection.” I lift the Star Stone. “The Cebalrai Stone, for amplifying power.”

The realization hits me.

“May you rest in peace, Esther, now and every sunrise to come.”

More light crests in the distance, filtering between the clouds, as I begin to sing. The music rises from the deepest part of my soul, notes finding their home before I have time to think. As if the melody was there all along, just waiting to come forth. With the staff in one hand and the Helios Stone in the other, I sing to the Source. The magic weaves in threads between the stones in mixing strands of gold and purple.

I raise my voice, and the Source responds, pulling effortlessly from the ancient stones. Braids of purple and gold arch over the mound of boulders, forming onto the rocks like veins. The entire mound glitters it in the sunrise, its structure swirling with beautiful streaks of purple and gold.

A burial site.

A cairn suitable for a hero.

A final resting place set apart from the world, high on a mountain, near the stars. A place that is undoubtedly near the place where my father rests.

“One day I will find that place and honor him as I did you,” I whisper.

Behind me, the mountain stretches upward, and the Cave of Silence somewhere above yawns open like the dawn. I know what I must do. I have to trust that Ramona, Leaf, and Castor are okay. They risked themselves for me to do this.

Esther died for this.

For me.

A sharp pain crawls along my chest. I swallow it down, sharpening that ache into an edge. My knuckles turn white around the staff. Heat of a thousand stars stirs inside as my well of power surges within.

My body may be numb, broken, and bloodied, but my spirit remains. I turn on trembling legs and face the daunting wall of stone and earth. I sheath my golden staff and tuck the Sun Stone back into the side pocket of my leathers. Stretching above for an impossible distance, the mountain is immovable. In a flash, I’m back at the Pits, sitting helplessly and alone at the bottom.

“Except, I’m not fucking helpless this time.”

I have the sun and star stones—two of the most powerful relics in the world.

I am a Starwatcher. Interpreter of history. Teller of stories.

“And”—I look over my shoulder at the glittering mound of purple and golden rocks—“I’m not alone.”

Then, I wedge my hand into a small crack and climb.

50

The Ascent