"Starry Orbit..." Sellen repeated the name, her voice trembling. Her mind raced back to her childhood, to that messy, chaotic drawing she had obsessed over. She had once believed its ultimate evolution was Master Azur's Comet.
She was wrong. Azure's Comet was but the trajectory of a single star. The drawing depicted the entire cosmos.
"Apprentice... how did you grasp this?" Sellen asked, her academic curiosity burning brighter than her glintstone mask.
The Tarnished fell into a brief silence, choosing his words carefully. "I visited Liurnia long ago, when the stars still moved. It was magnificent. In that sky, I saw the unbridled laws of the universe."
"The stars are part of the world, just as we are. I stayed there for a long time, watching them. I realized that even the most chaotic stars follow a path. They pull at one another, much like people do. Their temperament, their gravity—it defines their destiny." He looked at his hands. "Stars, moons... they are but reflections of the soul."
Sellen stood frozen. "Apprentice... were you truly there during the War of the Giants? If so... did you happen to leave a drawing in the Liurnian ruins?"
"A drawing? More like a doodle," the Tarnished chuckled, clapping his hands. "I remember it. It was a mess of lines representing the paths I could take back then. Did you see it?"
Sellen began to laugh—a clear, beautiful sound. "Fate is a stubborn thing, isn't it? To think my only apprentice is the very author who inspired my journey into the primeval current. The world truly does come full circle."
"Wait, you saw that old thing?"
"Not just me. Master Azur saw it too. I always thought it was an ancient relic or a work of Azur's. To think my 'first teacher' was actually you... it seems the stars have a sense of humor."
"A strange coincidence indeed." The Tarnished smiled. Fia was right; he was a stone cast into a still lake, and the ripples were finally reaching the shore.
"However," Sellen said, regaining her composure and tapping her desk with a hint of pride, "at this moment, I am the one who knows more of modern sorcery. I've caught up, apprentice."
"You've surpassed me. Now it's your turn to lead the way."
"We are helping each other," Sellen corrected him, walking over to straighten the cloth of his Carian armor. "You have a deep bond with Caria, it seems. This armor suits you. You were never meant for a wizard's robes; you are a warrior of the stars."
"Finally! Someone who appreciates the aesthetic of plate mail," the Tarnished sighed in relief.
Sellen cleared her desk, sweeping aside her old lesson plans. "Those are useless now. You need a new curriculum. Your understanding of the stars is unique; simple Glintstone magic will limit you. We must incorporate Carian lore. If you find the scrolls, I will teach you to weave the moon and stars together."
Her tone then turned grave. "But apprentice... if you wish to truly master the stars, you must break the current stagnation. The stars are frozen. Their destiny is locked."
"How do we unlock them?"
"You know of General Radahn, the Starscourge?" Sellen asked. "In his youth, he mastered gravity magic. At his peak, he challenged the stars themselves and won. He pinned them to the sky with his sheer will. He is the seal. To let destiny flow again, Radahn must die."
"Radahn... I heard he was rotted by Malenia's Scarlet Rot. He's nothing but a mindless beast now."
"It is a tragedy," Sellen whispered. "Even as an enemy of the stars, his willpower was magnificent. For a man like that, death is a mercy. Free him from his madness, and you will free the world's destiny. My own fate is tied to those stars as well."
The Tarnished nodded. Everything—Ranni's quest, the path to Nokron, and Sellen's future—led to the same man: the strongest demigod of the Shattering.
After leaving Sellen, the Tarnished headed straight for the Mistwood. He needed to find Blaidd and relay this information.
The woods were thick with fog, just as before. He reached the ruins but saw no sign of the half-wolf. He thought for a moment, then remembered the peculiar habits of Shadows. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers sharply.
A howl echoed from the distance, and moments later, Blaidd came leaping through the underbrush.
"Partner! How did you know that signal?" Blaidd asked, surprised.
"I knew someone like you once. He responded to the same sound," the Tarnished said, thinking of Maliketh.
"Small world. Anyway, did you find anything?"
The Tarnished explained the connection between Radahn, the stars, and the entrance to Nokron. "To find the city, we have to kill the General."
Blaidd's ears twitched, and his gaze lowered. "Sellen told you that? She's right... but it's a hard truth. Radahn is Ranni's eldest brother. She knows better than anyone that his life is what holds the stars in place."
"And she still sent you to find another way?"
"She was hoping for a miracle," Blaidd said, a sad smile touching his wolfish face. "She loves her brothers. In her heart, she was searching for a path that didn't involve killing the man who once protected her. But the stars don't lie. If we want to move forward, we have to face the Starscourge."
The Tarnished remained silent. Ranni, the witch who claimed to abandon everything, was still clutching onto a fragment of sisterly hope. She was a revolutionary, yes, but she was also a girl who didn't want to lose her family. It made her far more human than the "cold witch" persona she projected.
"The Radahn Festival is coming up at Redmane Castle," Blaidd said, tightening his grip on his greatsword. "Warriors from all over the Lands Between are gathering to give the General an honorable death. I'll head to Caelid. See you there, partner?"