Lira Valenti's vision swam as the smuggler's boat rocked violently, Solara's stormy waves clawing at the hull. Rain stung her face, her salt-soaked dress clinging to her shivering frame.
The runes on her arm burned, silver light flickering as dark tendrils from the Silent Council's crystal snaked toward her, pulling at her Echowriting.
Her throat tightened, a whisper hissing in her mind:
"Your voice is ours."
The black-sailed ship loomed, its crew chanting:
"Silence binds, silence breaks."
Mira—the unmasked woman, her sister—stood on their boat, her eyes a cruel mirror of Lira's own.
A mysterious man, staff glowing with stars, faced her. His voice was sharp:
"You can't steal the Accord's truth."
---
Lira's heart pounded, her muteness a cage.
Sister?
The word tore at her, a memory she couldn't grasp—like a shadow on Solara's docks.
Elias gripped her arm, his sea-glass eyes wild.
"Lira, hold on!"
His warmth anchored her, but Mira's claim—traitor, she had called Elias—twisted her trust.
Veyra, the mapmaker, clutched her satchel, her wounded shoulder bleeding.
"That crystal," she whispered, "it's eating her power."
---
The man swung his staff. A burst of starlight shattered Mira's energy.
The sea stilled for a heartbeat.
The ritual faltered.
Mira snarled, her crimson cloak snapping.
"You're too late, Koren. The Silent Council owns her now."
Koren?
Lira's eyes flicked to the man—tall, cloaked, his staff etched with runes like hers.
"The Accord was born in the sixth nation," he said.
"A pact to bind Solara's tides, Sarn's sands, Veyra's forests, Thryme's peaks, Kyris's plains.
But it was flawed. Built on a lie… a lie you helped bury, Mira."
---
Lira's breath caught.
A lie?
The Accord, her burden as Voicekeeper, broken by her silence—causing the Fractures.
She grabbed the parchment and scratched a star into the hull.
Silver light flared, pushing back the tendrils—
—but pain shot through her.
Her Echowriting was being stolen.
---
Elias pulled her close, shielding her from a wave.
"Don't let go," he whispered, breath warm against her ear.
His hand lingered—sparking heat, confusion, and the ache of almost-trust.
But Mira's voice cut through:
"You always choose the wrong side, Elias."
His jaw clenched. Pain flickered in his eyes.
What history did they share?
---
Veyra scrambled to the edge, revealing the glowing crystal.
"This came from Sarn's desert. From the sixth nation's ruins.
It's how they cursed your voice, Lira.
Your Echowriting… it's their magic, reborn."
Lira's runes stung.
A vision slammed into her—
Sand. Stars. Ruins glowing.
A woman—Mira?—writing runes that betrayed a council of light.
A whisper:
"The sixth nation fell to silence its truth."
She gasped. Her knees buckled. Elias caught her.
"Stay with me," he said, his voice raw.
"I won't lose you."
---
The Silent Council's ship fired—
Bolt. Crash. Splintered mast.
Koren deflected it, but Mira lunged, dagger flashing.
"You were my sacrifice, Lira," she said, voice cruel.
"My twin. Given to the Council to save me.
Your silence bought my freedom."
Twin?
Lira's world tilted.
Her face—Mira's face—older, sharper, but the same.
A memory:
Two girls.
Laughter on Solara's docks.
Then darkness took one.
Her runes flared. Rage surged.
She scratched a jagged circle in the air—
Light exploded.
Mira flew back.
---
But the crystal pulsed harder.
Tendrils tightened.
Lira's throat burned. Her breath caught.
---
Veyra screamed—
The crystal slipped, hit the deck, and glowed brighter.
The chant rose again:
"Silence binds, silence breaks."
Koren cursed.
"They're finishing the ritual. It'll take her power—and her life."
Elias's eyes widened.
"No."
He dove for the crystal.
But Veyra moved first—her dagger didn't strike Mira.
It struck the hull.
CRACK.
Water surged in.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"They have my family."
---
Veyra... betrayed them.
The boat tilted. Water poured.
Mira laughed.
"You can't escape your curse, sister."
Tendrils wrapped Lira's runes, tugging at her soul.
Darkness crept in.
"Your voice is ours."
---
Koren grabbed her, staff glowing.
"Hold on!"
Starlight surged. The ritual slowed.
But the Silent Council's ship neared, swarming with enemies.
A hooded figure stepped forward, holding a second crystal—larger.
Pulsing with her stolen light.
The hood dropped.
Kael.
Alive—but wrong.
Eyes glowing with Council magic.
"The Voicekeeper's time is over," he said,
his voice no longer his own.
---
Lira's world shattered.
Kael—her mentor, her father—betrayed her.
The boat sank, waves closing in.
The last thing she saw was Kael's cold smile.
---