The sky above Ketheris folded into itself like a bruised canvas, drenched in inks of deep blue and bruised purple. Beneath the celestial chaos stood Maris, her bare shoulders kissed by the dissolving light of two eclipsing moons. Her off-shoulder pink dress clung to her like a promise, the floral patterns etched across it whispering of a life barely remembered. A faint glow emanated from the fabric, making her appear like she’d stepped out of a dream untold.
Yet the mood in the air was far from whimsical. The Veil—the thin barrier that separated their world from the Netherplane—was cracking. It had started weeks ago, a tiny fissure in the skies above Ketheris, but now the rift yawned wider with every passing night. The Balance Priestesses spoke of ancient prophecies, of a harbinger cloaked in starlight who would mend the split or let the darkness pour through. Maris, though, paid no mind to their portents. She had no time for omens—or destiny. She was chasing her brother’s voice.
“Maris,” Destrin had whispered last night, his voice a shimmer of ice in her dreams. “Save me.”
That single plea had dragged her to the cliffs tonight, where the air was charged with whispers barely audible, like threads of songs unraveling in the wind. The edge of the precipice was jagged, once secure but now cracked apart from the Veil’s tremors. Below lay the Infinite Abyss, its inky black spirals swirling with otherworldly colors.
Maris clutched the small vial hanging around her neck—a delicate crystal filled with fragmented stardust. Her mother had told her it was a remnant of a Starborne, a celestial being whose death had sealed the Veil centuries ago. Tonight, Maris suspected it was something more. The vial thrummed against her skin as if alive, responding to the rift in the sky with a resonance she both feared and needed to understand.
“You shouldn’t be here,” said a voice behind her.
Maris spun around, the soft fabric of her dress rustling like petals. A man emerged from the shadows, his frame sleek but imposing. His dark, shoulder-length hair shimmered faintly in the moonlight, and his obsidian eyes seemed to pierce through her thoughts. He was dressed in dark, muted leathers that suggested he was no stranger to danger.
“Who are you?” Maris asked, her grip tightening around the vial.
“Someone who knows what you’re about to do,” the man replied. “And someone who will stop you.”
Maris stepped back, her heels dangerously close to the cliff’s edge. “You don’t know me.”
The man tilted his head, a cruel sort of smile tugging at his lips. “Oh, but I do. You’re not just some girl in a pretty dress standing on a cliff for sentimental reasons. You’re Destrin’s sister—the one who inherited the spark of the Starborne.” He nodded toward the glowing vial. “That’s not just stardust, is it?”
Maris froze. No one else knew about her dreams—her connection to Destrin, how she could feel his presence across the Veil. “What do you want?” she demanded.
“To save the world, same as you,” the man said. “But here’s the thing: the Veil wasn’t meant to last forever. It was always going to break. And opening it the right way…” He paused, his gaze falling to the rift in the sky. “Might save more than just one person. It might save us all.”
Maris hesitated. Something in his voice, in his certainty, chipped away at the resolve she’d held since waking from her dream. But the thought of Destrin trapped on the other side, his voice fading into nothingness, made her stomach churn. “What if you’re wrong?” she asked quietly.
The man took a step closer, his boots crunching against loose gravel. “And what if you are?”
As he reached toward her, Maris felt a flicker of something—an ancient memory, perhaps, or a bond to some forgotten time. The vial against her chest pulsed stronger, almost as if calling out to the rift above them. In that moment, Maris made her choice.
“It’s not your decision,” she said firmly. “Destrin is my brother. If there’s even a chance I can bring him back…” Her voice broke, but she steadied herself. “I have to try.”
The man’s expression softened, but only for an instant. “Then I won’t let you do it alone.”
Before Maris could argue, the rift above them groaned, a sound like shattering glass and echoes from a thousand realms colliding. The glow from the vial intensified, engulfing them both in light. And as the world dissolved into strands of color and energy, she felt her feet leave the ground, drawn upward toward a destiny she couldn’t yet comprehend.
When the light faded, only the cliffs remained, silent as ever beneath the bruised skies of Ketheris. And above them, the Veil tore wide open.
The source…check out the great article that inspired this amazing short story: Whimsy Meets Fashion: How to Shop the Dreamy Pink Fairy-Tale Look
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