Gasps filled the room; Guntar even let out a loud cluck.
"Her Levia? Are you serious?" Meg stared at the crystal shard in Theo's hands as if seeing it for the first time.
"So are you saying Miriel really existed?" Darian demanded.
For his part, Theo didn't know what to think. After all, this was the first time ever hearing about Miriel. He tried to remember what Meg and Darian had told him of the Rending; something about a demon prince, right, who had cast the spell that destroyed Tielos. So he'd been defeated by one specific seraphim, whose Levia Theo now held in his hands.
A prickle ran down his spine. Dimly, he began to realize just how ancient – and important – the Star of Miriel might actually be.
"You look rather lost, young wizard," Elder Tabitt said, her voice kindly. Theo started.
"Uh, well, I – "
"Oh, not to worry." The Elder chuckled. "Shall I fill in this gap in your education?"
"It's not like I did it on purpose…," Meg muttered, rubbing her head.
With surprising grace, Elder Tabitt rose to her feet. She flicked her hand and a globe-fish drifted over, somewhat bigger than the ones Theo had seen so far. An angler-like lure dangled from its forehead, with a little light at the end. As Tabitt gestured, the globe-fish lifted the lure and the light brightened, casting a concentrated beam at a carving on the ceiling.
Tabitt swept her hand at the carving, which seemed to depict a city straight out of Theo's dreams. With one notable difference: it stood firmly on the ground, surrounded by mountains on all sides.
"I'm sure you already know this, but long ago Tielos was a vibrant world overflowing with Levia. Nations great and small covered the land, and all of their various peoples lived in harmony."
Until the Fire Nation attacked, some silly part of Theo thought. Well, he wasn't too far off, because Tabitt said, "But the prince of the demons, Asyda, had ambitions too great for his one kingdom to contain. He gathered an army and they rampaged across Tielos, felling every city and conquering every nation in their path."
The light swept lower, focusing on a section where the carvings were formed from jagged, angular lines. Looking closely, Theo made out a large horned figure with six bat wings on his back, other equally grotesque creatures gathered beneath him.
"Soon, only the nation of the seraphim stood in their way. Though the seraphim had always tried to stay neutral in conflicts, they could not turn a blind eye to Asyda's actions. The seraphim and demons clashed in many battles, and eventually one seraphim emerged as the strongest warrior of them all, leading them onto every battlefield. Princess Miriel."
The beam of light landed on carvings made of elegantly flowing lines. These depicted a figure with wavy hair billowing about her head and six feathery wings, surrounded by similarly winged beings.
"Princess Miriel and Prince Asyda fought countless times, never able to defeat each other. Their final battle was the most ferocious of them all, lasting over a hundred days."
This time, the light splashed across the largest, central carving. The two figures from before, the demon and seraphim, faced each other with their hands raised. Lightning bolts crackled between them while wind swirled around them.
"Finally, at the end of the hundred days, Princess Miriel triumphed. But it came at a great cost – the crystal cities of the seraphim were leveled, and the kingdom of the demons hardly fared better. Nor did Prince Asyda accept defeat so easily. With the last of his strength, he cast one final spell."
"The Rending," Theo breathed, his heart pounding.
Tabitt nodded solemnly. "If he couldn't rule Tielos, he would destroy it instead. In one fell swoop, the Rending drained the Levia from the land. Forests turned to ash, cities to dust. All life would have ended if it were not for Miriel's great sacrifice.
"With the last of her strength, she cast a spell to counter Asyda's. Even a powerful seraphim like her could not restore the Levia to the land. But she could preserve what little remained. The last few areas that had not fallen to the Rending, she tore from the land and raised to the sky. These became the Fortresses, and she charged them with the mission of preserving the Levia of Tielos."
The beam danced lower, illuminating a sight that Theo by now recognized quite well. Cities of crystal floating amidst the clouds.
So that was the story behind the destruction of Tielos. Even with the carvings, he had a hard time imagining it. Everything about it sounded larger than life, the stuff of myth and legends. A heroic princess, an evil prince, hundred-day battles, a noble sacrifice. He just couldn't see how it connected with his life right now, his quest to complete the Star of Miriel.
"The first and greatest of the Fortresses was named for her," Guntar declared. "Miria, the Fortress to which our liege is the rightful heir."
"Yes, yes." Darian rubbed the back of her head, uncharacteristically awkward. "That's the story, anyway. So where does the Star of Miriel fit into all this?"
She addressed this question to Tabitt. "That's what I'm getting to," Tabitt said, winking. "Here's the part only we sages know. The creation of the Fortresses may have drained Miriel's strength, but she still had enough left for one more spell."
Finally, the beam of light reached the lowest carving on the wall. The sight of it made Theo's heart jolt: a five-pointed star made of crystal.
"She gathered all of her remaining Levia and condensed it into a single crystal. Even after she was gone, she hoped the crystal would pass her power and protection to Tielans for generations to come. But so great was Miriel's Levia that the crystal could not maintain its shape for longer than a moment. It shattered into pieces, and the pieces scattered across the land."
Tabitt nodded at the shard in Theo's hand. "It appears some of the pieces made their way to Earth. As for the others, I imagine they're still around Tielos waiting to be found. But we know the location of one of them for certain."
"What?" Theo blurted. He had not expected to hear this. "Where is it?"
Tabitt chuckled. "An eager boy, aren't you. Well, you're just in luck, because you'll find it right here on Mount Neym."
Theo wasn't the only one whose jaw dropped. He could practically feel everyone's surprise zinging in the air like static electricity.
Darian, Guntar, and Zenith spun toward Cay. "Cayelci, why didn't you tell us this earlier?" Guntar huffed, flapping his wings.
Cay had been standing there just as stricken as everyone else. Now a familiar scowl twisted his face and he snapped, "Well, wouldn't you know, this is my first time hearing about it too."
"Now, now." Tabitt waved her hand. "This information's only available to those of Master rank or above, and the crystal is hidden deep within the mountain, a place where its Levia can't easily be sensed. Most of the sages haven't any idea."
Theo squeezed the crystal shard in his hand, feeling its Levia pulse against his palm. 'The sages will know,' Mom had said. Was this what she meant?
"So can you take us to it?" Darian asked Tabitt.
Tabitt stared back, unruffled. "Oh? Do you really think it's going to be that easy?"
"What do you mean?" Darian demanded, while Zenith tensed.
"The shard Mount Neym protects is the core of the Star itself. Miriel herself entrusted it to us, and so we have protected it ever since the Rending. You'll need to have a very good reason if you want to take it away."
"We kind of need it to complete the Star, you know," Meg said, hands on her hips.
A twinkle entered Tabitt's eye. "And why do you want to complete it?"
"Well – " This seemed to bring Meg up short.
As for Theo, even he couldn't find an immediate answer. 'Because my mom told me to in my dreams?' Somehow, he felt Tabitt wouldn't exactly accept this reason.
"Well!" Tabitt clapped her hands together. "I can't deny that is a genuine shard you possess. So there's no harm in taking you to see the core, at least."
"Really?" Theo's breath caught, and the shard's Levia pulsed stronger than before.
"Of course, of course. If you'd follow me?" After waving aside the globe-fish, who dimmed its light, Tabitt started striding toward the door. Theo and the others stared at her for a moment before Darian took off briskly after her.
"Wait...me as well?" Cay said, looking more uncertain than Theo had ever seen him.
"I don't see why not," Tabitt called over her shoulder. "You serve Prince Darian too, don't you? Well, come along, come along!"
Cay blinked, shook his head as if coming out of a dream, and started following as well. Zenith paused to wait for Theo, and they set out into the hall side-by-side.
With every step, Theo's hard pounded harder. Whether this excitement belonged to him or the Star shard, he couldn't say – or maybe it was both.