Silence isn't always peaceful.
Sometimes it's the moment just before everything shatters.
And that's what this was.
The Forge trembled—not from an explosion or a storm, but like it knew something had changed. Like it had finally exhaled after holding its breath for a thousand years.
Caelum paced a short distance from Maelin, avoiding eye contact. The shard was gone—absorbed, maybe—but Maelin felt it inside her, humming behind her ribs like a second heartbeat. And it was getting louder.
> "They've heard me."
She said it aloud. Not for Caelum. For herself.
He finally looked at her. "Who are they?"
Maelin's jaw clenched. "The Choir. The ones who sang the world into being. The ones who burned when I—"
She stopped.
Because she wasn't sure what she had done.
Or what version of her had done it.
---
The First Echo
The walls of the Forge rippled like water. Not physically—more like time got tired of being linear. Shapes formed in the air, made of memory and sound.
The first echo arrived.
It wasn't a person.
It was a voice, stitched to a shimmer of light that floated toward Maelin.
> "You have disturbed the Harmony," it said. "The last note was not yours to sing."
Maelin stood her ground. "Then maybe it shouldn't have been left behind."
The echo didn't argue. It screamed—not in anger, but in warning.
And behind it, more voices started to rise.
---
The Choir's Descent
Dozens. Hundreds.
They didn't walk. They just… descended. Voices wrapped in cloaks of light and grief. Some of them looked like people. Others were made of pure sound, vibrating through the floor. A few looked familiar—like old dreams she'd forgotten.
They surrounded her, singing without sound.
And then, all at once—they stopped.
One stepped forward. His face was half-shadow, half-fire.
> "Key-Bearer. Velastra. Song-Stealer."
Each title landed like a slap.
Maelin raised the Starforge. It burned in her grip, pulsing harder with each breath.
"I'm not here to sing your song," she said. "I'm here to end it."
The fire-faced one tilted his head.
> "Then prepare for silence."
---
Caelum's Choice
The Choir raised their hands—or what passed for hands—and the chamber lit up like the inside of a star. Caelum reached for Maelin, panic in his eyes.
"We can't fight them."
"No," Maelin whispered, "but we can change them."
She stabbed the Starforge into the floor.
And everything stopped.
The light froze.
The Choir paused mid-motion.
And a ripple of choice spread through the room.
One of the echoes dropped to its knees.
A crack formed in the fire-faced one's chest.
> "The cycle..." he rasped. "It's slipping."
Maelin's eyes blazed. "Good."