The next morning, the sky was quiet, but Kael didn't trust it. Nothing ever stayed calm for long in the upper air.
He flew west, following the orb's last message—"Where the stars fall." That could mean anything. But Kael knew of one place where the sky seemed to rain fire every few nights.
Starfall Ridge.
It was a dangerous zone. Sharp winds. Crashing meteors. And stories of people who vanished without a trace.
By late afternoon, he saw it—flashes of light dropping from the clouds like burning arrows. His grip tightened on the controls.
Then something caught his eye.
Not a falling star…
A falling person.
"What the—"
A figure with a glider cape was spiraling down, trying to control the fall but failing fast. Kael dropped altitude and followed, watching as the figure crashed onto a ledge just above a steep cliff.
He landed fast, jumped out, and ran.
The person was a girl—young, maybe a few years younger than him, with a leather flight suit and goggles on her head. She groaned as she sat up, holding her arm.
"You alright?" Kael asked.
She blinked at him. "I'm not dead?"
"Not yet," he said with a grin, helping her up. "I'm Kael."
"Lira," she replied. "Thanks for the save. I was chasing a star crystal when my glider caught a current."
Kael tilted his head. "You're a sky chaser?"
She nodded. "Best one in the west." Then she looked past him. "Wait… is that a Skycore?"
Kael's heart skipped. "How do you know what that is?"
Lira's eyes sparkled. "Because I've seen one before. And I know where the second one is."
Kael stared at her.
This girl had just fallen from the sky…
And now she might be the key to finding the next treasure.