Midnight, deep within the forest — Day 1 of the journey to Lithrium

  The fire had dimmed into embers.

  Tents nestled beneath the canopy, soft breathing rising in rhythm with the night wind. Bonds curled beside their tamers—Vultherin flickering low, Snarl twitching in a dream, Koirin gently glowing like a sleeping pearl.

  But not everyone rested peacefully.

  Inside her tent, Lily twisted under her blanket, a sheen of sweat clinging to her brow.

  Her dreams pulsed with strange, strobe-like flashes. A screaming sky. A serpent of stars coiling through fire. Wings like waterfalls clashing against a radiant claw that split the horizon.

  Voices echoed—twisted and overlapping.

  "He gave them bonds... and they broke it."

  "Magnus must not return—"

  "The Whisperlights saw it all."

  "He'll burn it all again"

  She jolted awake, breath hitched.

  Lily: "...Ugh. I need to pee."

  She slipped out, boots barely tied, cloak lazily pulled over her shoulder.

  Josh was on watch—supposed to be, at least. But he was slumped over a log, Hornbeast drooling beside him.

  Lily rolled her eyes.

  Lily: "Seriously? One job."

  She wandered into the woods, brushing past low branches, muttering to herself.

  But then... a flicker.

  A sliver of moonlight dancing unnaturally through the trees. Then it vanished.

  She squinted—curious.

  Another flicker.

  Then, a glowing figure—a Stag, antlers sparkling like frozen constellations, leapt through the woods.

  Lily's breath caught.

  She followed it.

  Back at the campsite, the soft crackle of the fire was the only sound.

  Elly lay curled on one side of the tent, her Koirin nestled in the bowl beside her, glowing gently. Beside her, Seri, the youngest among them, slept soundly—thumb resting near her cheek, strands of hair messily covering her face. Every now and then, she mumbled in her sleep, clinging slightly to Elly's arm.

  They looked peaceful. Untouchable. As if the war beyond them hadn't scarred the land.

  But not everyone was asleep.

  Just outside the perimeter, Lyra leaned against a tree, arms crossed and one brow arched, watching the direction Lily had disappeared into.

  She huffed quietly, brushing a leaf from her shoulder.

  Lyra: "Dream trails. Of course. One cryptic stag and suddenly we're wading into cosmic memory lanes."

  She didn't move to follow.

  She didn't need to.

  Just like the others, Lyra had seen the signs—the shimmer in the air, the shift in temperature, the twist of fate that called someone beyond the veil of reality.

  But while the rest would be awed, Lyra only looked... mildly inconvenienced.

  Lyra: "We're barely halfway through the forest, and they're already unlocking past lives. Should've brought some snacks."

  She turned her gaze upward, toward the branches swaying in silence above.

  Lyra: "Honestly, if she starts glowing next, I'm filing a complaint to the universe."

  Then she sighed and leaned her head back, more irritated than worried.

  Because what Lily was walking through now... wasn't for Lyra to interfere with.

  Not yet.

  ...

  The forest changed.

  As Lily followed the glowing stag deeper into the woods, something shifted. The trees grew impossibly tall—arching like cathedral spires overhead. Moonlight no longer filtered down from above... it flowed, like water, threading through the branches and pooling at her feet.

  The air shimmered with golden motes. Flowers bloomed in spirals wherever the stag's hooves touched. Moss glowed silver-blue, soft as velvet under her boots. She swore she heard music—not from instruments, but from the trees themselves, humming a lullaby from a world long forgotten.

  Lily blinked, slowing her steps.

  Lily: "...Okay, I am definitely not peeing anymore."

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  The stag was still ahead, its glow pulsing gently like a heartbeat. It paused at a bend in the path and looked back at her—its antlers refracting the light like a prism.

  Lily: "Where are you taking me...?"

  She stepped forward, brushing past low branches that curled out of her way like they were alive.

  Then—a shimmer tore through the trees like a mirage... and she saw it:

  A city in flames.

  Towering spires turned to molten ash. Screams echoed between the buildings. Above it all, a blinding figure hovered—white-scaled, enormous, divine—its wings spread wide as if to swallow the sky.

  Lily gasped and stumbled back.

  Lily: "What the hell was that—?!"

  Then another flash.

  Three lights cut through the smoke:

  A serpentine dragon whose very roar shaped mountains.

  A cosmic whale, galaxies flickering across its back as it soared through the clouds.

  A celestial hippocampus, its mane trailing starlight, crashing through flame.

  The Starbeasts.

  They clashed with the white god—Magnus—above the ruin of a world.

  And below them... Stags. Dozens. Watching from the treeline. Standing between the broken and the burning.

  "He gave them bonds... and they turned them into chains."

  "He gave them choice... and they chose greed."

  "So he chose to end it all."

  Lily froze in place, hand over her heart.

  Lily: "...Why are you showing me this?"

  The stag walked ahead again, slowly.

  Lily followed, breath shallow.

  She passed a field of luminescent dandelions—each one glowing softly, like lost wishes.

  She paused to touch one. It floated up, and as it did, she heard a child's laugh—one that sounded like her own.

  Lily: "This place... it remembers."

  The further she walked, the more she remembered things she never lived.

  How the forests burned. How children were bonded with creatures and used. How once, this world—Varnak—had balance, until humans mistook power for ownership.

  Then, another whisper:

  "Balance isn't peace. And peace... isn't balance."

  Lily stepped through a veil of vines, light pouring through—and emerged into the glade.

  Lily stumbled through the misted underbrush, breath ragged from running—chasing the silver shimmer that danced between trees like a ghost of starlight. Her feet were soaked, dew clinging to her legs, thorn-scratches trailing her calves. But she didn't stop.

  Because something was calling her.

  The vision was fading now, retreating like a tide—but its echo still buzzed in her chest.

  She burst through the final veil of hanging vines—

  —and stopped.

  The world changed.

  Moonlight pooled here like silver blood, thick and weightless, casting no shadow. The trees bowed outward, forming a perfect ring of twisted trunks and petal-coated roots. The glade was silent—too silent. No crickets, no wind. Only the sound of her own racing heartbeat.

  And in the center... was it.

  A young Whisperlight Stag.

  Its legs were trembling, thin as reeds. Antlers barely formed—delicate, glinting like cracked glass. Its side rose and fell unevenly. An open wound glistened along its flank, dark with blood that shimmered faintly like stars.

  Lily: "...You poor thing..."

  She approached slowly, instinctively kneeling and reaching into her pouch. Her hands moved on their own—tearing cloth, wetting it with her water flask, pressing gently on the wound.

  Lily: "You're glowing. Of course you're glowing. Because why wouldn't I find a space-deer tonight."

  The Stag shivered under her touch, but didn't move away.

  And just as she leaned closer to whisper something—the clearing pulsed.

  A soft hum resonated from the trees. The petals on the roots lifted slightly, as though stirred by invisible music.

  Then—a second Whisperlight Stag stepped out from the trees.

  Older. Towering. Majestic. Its antlers reached like branches of diamond ice, and its hooves barely made contact with the earth. Its body flickered—part light, part memory.

  Its voice wasn't heard aloud. It arrived like a thought beneath her skin.

  Ancient Whisperlight: "He chose you... just as we once chose them."

  Lily stood, breath caught.

  Lily: "Them...? Who—what are you talking about?"

  Ancient Whisperlight: "The first lights. The three stars. The Serpent, the Whale, the Sea Horse... But before them, we watched. We warned. We failed."

  The older stag stepped closer, lowering its great head beside the youngling. The light between them flickered like a thread being passed.

  Ancient Whisperlight: "Your kind forgets. But the forest remembers. And now, the tide returns. The chaos stirs."

  Lily looked down at the young stag, who now met her eyes. Even in pain—it was... trusting her.

  Lily: "Are you... asking me to take care of him?"

  The older stag blinked once. Then—

  It vanished.

  Faded into a swirl of light and wind.

  The petals fluttered back to stillness.

  The glade dimmed—no longer frozen in time, but alive again.

  Only the youngling remained.

  And it... gently leaned into her.

  Lily: "So this is real. I didn't fall asleep in the middle of a bathroom run and dream up Bambi's celestial cousin."

  She smiled softly, tears welling.

  Then laughed—shaky, a little wild.

  Lily: "I'm naming you Glint. Hope you don't mind a bit of sarcasm."

  The baby stag snorted, nose bumping against her palm.

  It was the beginning of something new.

  ...

  Back at camp— Just Before Dawn

  Panic had bloomed like wildfire.

  Tents were thrown open. Voices barked over each other. Armor clinked hastily as boots stomped through half-lit brush.

  Rica stood at the center of the camp, eyes sharp and lips tight, trying to organize a response.

  Rica: "Josh, you were supposed to be on watch duty! How did you not notice?!"

  Josh held his arms up defensively, still disheveled from being dragged out of sleep.

  Josh: "I was watching! Then I blinked, and...everything was gone! Hornbeast didn't even snort!"

  Marian, already strapping on her belt: "That's cause you slept through it!"

  Cedy: "Should've known better than to assign the snoring duo to first watch."

  Kristie paced near the tents, arms crossed, stress radiating off her.

  Kristie: "We've already had bandits and beasts today! If something happened to her..."

  Then—

  A sniffle.

  A small sob.

  Elly was curled near the fire, Seri in her lap. Both were trembling, cheeks wet.

  Elly: "We should've kept her close. I should've woken up..."

  Seri: "I don't want anyone else to disappear..."

  Ren crouched beside them, quiet, placing a hand on both their backs.

  Ren: "She's strong. She's not gone. We'll find her—"

  Before he could finish, the brush at the edge of camp parted—

  —and Lily stepped through.

  Hair tousled. Clothes damp. Twigs in her sleeves. Eyes wide with the weight of whatever she'd just experienced.

  And right beside her...

  A baby stag, no larger than a deer fawn, shimmered like moonlight and stardust. Its crystal-sprouting antlers caught the first breath of sunrise, scattering light in fractals across the trees.

  For a full heartbeat—

  Silence.

  Jonax: "...What."

  Rej: "Is that—?!"

  Cedy: "That's not normal."

  Kristie: "Is that Bambi's celestial cousin?!"

  Josh: "Oh, I'm so off watch duty forever."

  Elly stood up so fast she nearly stumbled. Seri shot up after her.

  Elly: "Lily!!"

  Seri: "You're okay!!"

  They rushed her at full speed—Elly pulling Lily into a hug so tight it knocked the breath out of her, Seri wrapping her arms around her waist like a lifeline.

  Lily blinked, stunned... and smiled sheepishly.

  Lily: "I'm okay. Really. Just... had to pee. Took a detour. Found a glowing deer baby."

  Kristie: "That's the weirdest bedtime story I've heard all night."

  Iver, eyes narrowed thoughtfully, stepped closer to the glimmering stag.

  Iver: "That's not an ordinary bond beast."

  Marian: "No shit, Sherlock."

  Queen, Scruffler, Snarl, and the others stirred from rest, peeking out from behind tents and trees with quiet curiosity. Even Vultherin tilted his head from Ren's shoulder, huffing softly at the strange new presence.

  The little stag—Glint—blinked slowly at the crowd, then nestled against Lily's side.

  Ren watched the scene unfold—his eyes lingered not just on the stag, but the light Lily carried now. Something had shifted in her.

  Rica finally stepped forward, expression softening.

  Rica: "...Guess we're adding another to the roster."

  Lily scratched her head, chuckling awkwardly.

  Lily: "Hope we have enough tent space."

  Josh: "I am not* bunking with a glowing deer."

  Kristie: "Too late. You're on sparkle-duty, lover boy."

  As the laughter and relief returned to the camp like the slow sunrise, Lyra—sitting atop a boulder at the edge of the scene—rested her chin on her palm.

  She said nothing.

  Just smirked.

  Lyra: "And here I thought this group couldn't get any weirder."

  ...

  The camp had settled into an uneasy calm.

  Some had returned to their tents, others just sat in stunned silence. A few embers still glowed in the firepit, crackling gently against the morning dew.

  Ren sat near the flame, still on edge, Vultherin curled by his feet like a fox-shaped sentinel. Rica knelt beside a map, reorganizing her notes with practiced hands—but even she glanced toward the glow every few seconds.

  Lily approached slowly, still cradling Glint, who shimmered softly beside her like a dream not yet ready to fade.

  Lily: "Ren. Rica. I need to tell you something."

  They looked up, serious. Rica folded her notes away and nodded.

  Rica: "Let me guess... it wasn't just a glowing deer."

  Lily sat down cross-legged between them, her face half-lit by the firelight. Her voice lowered.

  Lily: "It started like a dream... like I was sleepwalking. There were visions—echoes, like memories that weren't mine."

  Ren: "Visions?"

  Lily: "Magnus."

  "The Starbeasts."

  "The end of the old world."

  She shivered a little, Glint curling closer to her for warmth and comfort.

  Lily: "I saw the skies burn... cities swallowed by the sea... monsters and humans running together—not from each other, but from something greater. And above them all... a towering figure wreathed in flame and sorrow."

  Ren's brows furrowed.

  Ren: "Magnus."

  Lily nodded slowly.

  Lily: "And the Starbeasts. The Dragon. The Whale. The Hippocampus. They weren't just guardians. They were judges. They stood against him—not to destroy him... but to seal him. Because even gods can lose their way."

  Rica's gaze darkened.

  Rica: "So it's true. The cult... they're trying to bring back a god who ended the world once."

  Lily: "The Stag—Glint—his kind watched from the edges. They're not meant to intervene, only remember. Witnesses. Keepers of the balance."

  She looked at Ren.

  Lily: "But something's changed, Ren. We're not just witnesses anymore. We're part of it. Glint said... the Starbeasts have chosen. And now, they're watching us. What we do next... matters."

  A pause.

  Then Glint—still glowing—stepped forward slightly and nuzzled Ren's leg, then Rica's.

  An eerie but calming warmth passed through them, as if something ancient and kind had just acknowledged them both.

  Ren: "...Then we move carefully. We protect what's ours. And when the time comes—we stand."

  Rica gave a small smile.

  Rica: "Guess it's official. The stars are watching us now."

  Lily let out a breath.

  Lily: "Good. I just hope they're not expecting us to be perfect."

  Ren: "They're not. They chose us, didn't they?"

  The three of them sat in silence then—just for a moment—under the light of the fading stars, the crackle of the fire, and the heartbeat of something much bigger than themselves.

  Tomorrow, the road would call again.