Mori Starweaver's Arc

Chapter 4 of 5

The star-fire settled inside Mori, warm and patient. He could hold it now. But holding was not the same as commanding. To bind a living star, he needed the true rite, and no one carried it in the open. Enzo led him to a stone vault sunk in the earth, its face carved with runes and sealed by a wheel of iron. "The instructions sleep in here," Enzo said. "So do the ones who guard them." Enzo turned the wheel. The vault groaned open. Cassian waited inside, veiled and small, his blind white eyes fixed on the dark. He had taught Mori the calming rites once. Now he did not greet him. "You reek of star-fire," he said. "The guardian will smell it too." A chained tome rested on a stone stand at the room's center. Star motifs covered its cover. Iron chains crossed it like a cage. Mori stepped toward it. A low growl rolled through the vault. From the shadows walked a beast, its coat scattered with glowing star patterns, horns curling above watchful eyes. It set itself between Mori and the book. "It judges you," Cassian said. "Reach for the book unworthy and it strikes." Mori's fire jumped in his chest, eager to answer the threat. He clenched his jaw. Burning the guardian would prove nothing. It would only prove the fire owned him. He let his hands hang open. He walked forward slow, not reaching, meeting the beast's eyes. The fire strained against his ribs. It wanted out. Mori breathed the calming rite Cassian had taught him. He named himself under his breath. "Mori Starweaver." The heat sank back down. He held the power still, the way Cassian said a living vessel bends without breaking. The beast lowered its horns. It sniffed the air near his chest. Then it stepped aside. The chains on the tome fell loose and slid to the floor. Mori lifted the book. Its weight pressed into his arms. He opened it. The pages showed a serpent with void-dark eyes and a five-pointed star burning along its coils. Enzo leaned close and read the old script. "That is the star you seek," Enzo said quietly. "A living star that wears the shape of a serpent. The rite binds it. But look here." He touched a line of runes. "The star fights back. It hunts the one who calls it, the same way the beast hunted you. This rite does not tame it. It starts a war." Mori closed the book. He had the instructions now. He knew the star. He also knew the truth Enzo had shown him. Binding it would wake something that wanted him dead. Cassian turned his white eyes toward Mori. "You have what you came for," he said. "Now the serpent knows your name too." Mori held the tome against his chest and felt the fire inside him stir, ready.