“Your tomorrows rise as the stars guide your path.”

If she hadn’t been searching for a perfectly round black stone to use in her upcoming path-choice ceremony, Kair’k Nina might have missed the message. It sat in plain sight, yet nearly invisible, faint scratches on a scrap of material poking out from a crevice in the jagged rocks.

Kair’k scanned the steep path leading back up the hill to the city gates, expecting to see someone waving her away from the message, or at least gazing her direction. But the path was undisturbed since she had inched her way down at premorn, chasing the best light for discerning colors and patterns in the rocks. One sun reflected wanly on the calm sea. Silence enveloped the deserted, rocky shoreline. She was alone.

Kair’k took a tentative step forward, and let her fingertips graze the message. The action felt strangely intimate, like touching a secret. Don’t be fanciful, she told herself with a shake. You can’t touch a secret.

She dropped her arm to her side. The message belonged to someone who knew why the strange words were hidden outside the safety of the city walls. Someone who knew what the message meant.

The light bouncing on the sea grew brighter. With a start, Kair’k realized that she had stood staring at the message far longer than she had intended. She needed to hurry back up the hill or she would be late for her morning lessons. She turned back to the steep path, carrying her black stone in her hand and the secret of the message in her heart.

Kair’k’s story continues here: Kair’k

For more information about The Star Stone Chronicles: The Star Stone Chronicles