❖ Chapter 20: The Singing Edge
The path wasn't a path.
It just felt like the place their feet were supposed to go.
Soft grass gave way to wide slabs of stone, broken and scattered like something ancient had once tried to build here — and gave up halfway. Around them, the air was heavy with warmth and sound. But the deeper they walked, the quieter everything became.
No birds. No wind. Just a low, steady hum in their bones.
"She wasn't kidding," Jio muttered, glancing behind them. "Feels like the world's holding its breath."
Havella didn't look back. "Good. That means it's paying attention."
They reached the edge of the island — or what looked like it. Beyond it was a thin, translucent bridge of light, barely wider than their shoulders. It pulsed slowly, stretching to a nearby floating landmass across a glowing chasm.
Jio raised an eyebrow. "You think that's real?"
"Nope," Havella said, stepping onto it anyway.
The bridge didn't sway. It didn't make a sound. But as Jio followed, something started brushing against his ears — something soft.
Singing.
He paused mid-step. The voice was distant, gentle, almost familiar.
"...Do you hear that?"
Havella stopped, but didn't turn. "Yeah. Don't listen."
"What if it's someone—?"
"It's not."
Jio clenched his jaw and kept walking.
They reached the other side after what felt like hours, though it couldn't have been more than a minute. The land there was different — redder, dustier, with strange trees that bent like elbows and roots that coiled like fingers.
And in the distance, half-hidden in a curl of rock, something moved.
Jio instinctively reached for the hilt of his hand-made metal knife that Havella made for him, though he hadn't drawn it since the Wastes. Havella didn't bother hiding her caution.
The figure stepped out.
A man — or maybe something once shaped like a man. His arms were painted with tribal ink, and his eyes glowed faintly. Behind him, several others emerged from the rock formations. Quiet, watching.
Their clothes were made of stitched animal skin and metal fragments. Weapons hung from their sides, but none were drawn.
Jio raised a hand carefully. "We're not here to fight."
"No one is," the man said. His voice was smooth but dry, like old leather. "But the sky said you were coming."
Havella tensed. "The sky?"
"It sings when new blood enters the realm. You crossed a bridge you didn't build. That means you're either stupid… or chosen."
Jio gave her a sideways glance. "Definitely the first one."
The man smiled faintly.
"We are the Stillbone," he said. "We listen. We remember. Sometimes we bite. But mostly… we trade."
"Trade what?" Havella asked.
The man's smile widened just slightly. "Truth."
A woman stepped forward, younger, with gold lines drawn across her cheeks. She looked at Jio directly. "You're marked," she said. "Something clings to you. The Wastes?"
He nodded.
"It left something inside you. We can smell it."
Havella frowned. "Is that a threat?"
"No," the first man said. "It's a warning."
He turned, gesturing for them to follow.
"You'll want to rest before the next island. That one's not as polite as this."
Jio glanced at Havella, who shrugged.
They followed.
The Stillbone tribe didn't speak much as they moved. Their camp was tucked beneath a jutting rock, sheltered from the sky. Fires burned with greenish-blue flames, and their children whispered to stones like they could hear something whispering back.
That night, Jio sat alone by one of the fires. His hands were steady, but his heart wasn't.
He thought of Sael. Of the way she hadn't flinched when speaking of death. Of Puff's lazy eyes and the yawning void of innocence.
Then the singing came again — soft, curling around his ears like fingers.
He turned. Nothing.
"You shouldn't listen to the sky," a voice said beside him.
It was the young woman with the golden lines.
"I wasn't."
"You were."
She sat down beside him, not asking for permission.
"The ones who hear it clearly are the ones the next realm wants."
"What's the next realm?" he asked.
She looked at him. Her eyes were too dark to see through.
"Memory."
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End of Chapter 20
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