Clawed's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Clawed pressed her paw against the cool glass of the library window. Inside, scholars bent over ancient texts and maps of Artiqua. She wanted what they had—answers. Her black fur crackled with tiny blue sparks as frustration built in her chest. Somewhere in this world floated a crystal that held the secret to her past. She didn't know who her parents were or why lightning danced across her skin. But that crystal would tell her. It had to. A shout echoed down the street. Clawed's ears swiveled toward the noise. She leaped from the windowsill and followed the commotion. A crowd gathered around a mine cart filled with purple amethyst crystals. The gems glittered in the afternoon sun, each facet throwing light in different directions. A miner pointed at one crystal that hovered three inches above the rest. Clawed's heart hammered against her ribs. The floating crystal pulsed with a soft glow. She pushed through the crowd, her yellow eyes locked on the hovering stone. This was it. This was the proof that the legends were real. If one crystal could float, then the one that held her answers existed too. She just had to find it. The crowd blocked her view as people pressed closer to the cart. Clawed climbed onto a wooden crate and studied the floating crystal. It spun slowly in the air, its purple surface darker than the others. She needed a way to track crystals like this one. A tool that could spot them from far away. Her mind raced through possibilities. That's when she remembered the old telescope she'd seen in a shop window. But not just any telescope—one with a purple lens that might detect the same energy that made crystals float. Two days later, Clawed stood inside a building on the edge of town. The observatory had everything she needed. A purple-lensed telescope pointed toward the sky through an open dome. A satellite dish sat mounted nearby, ready to track signals. This place would be her base. From here, she would search for the crystal that held her truth. She pressed her eye to the telescope and swept it across the horizon. Somewhere out there, her past waited to be found.