The city of Solara clung to the back of the great leviathan like moss on stone. Its glowing spires and bustling markets sprawled across the creature’s immense body, held aloft by its slow drift through the cosmos. This was the only home its inhabitants had ever known—a living city built upon the steady rise and fall of the leviathan’s breathing, with the void of space stretching endlessly in all directions.
Ryn had grown up in the shadow of those spires, working in a cluttered repair shop near the lower markets. They were a skilled mechanic, their hands always stained with grease and soot, their mind constantly humming with blueprints and schematics. But skill and hard work didn’t mean much in Solara if you didn’t have connections—or luck.
And Ryn had none of those.
----------------------------------------
The shop was quiet when Ryn returned that evening, the hum of the leviathan’s distant heartbeat the only sound. Their younger sibling, Ael, lay curled on the cot in the corner, pale and frail beneath a patchwork blanket.
“How are you feeling?” Ryn asked, kneeling beside them.
Ael opened their eyes, the soft glow of their pupils dimmer than it had been the week before. “I’m fine,” they whispered.
Ryn forced a smile. “You’re a terrible liar.”
The truth was, Ael wasn’t fine. The disease that had crept through the lower levels of the city had taken hold, and the doctors had been clear: without an expensive treatment, Ael didn’t have much time. Ryn had tried everything—extra shifts, selling off their tools, even borrowing money from the shadowy lenders who prowled the lower markets. But it wasn’t enough.
That was when they heard about the vendor.
----------------------------------------
The upper market was a place of wonder and danger, filled with traders hawking wares from across the galaxy. Ryn had always avoided it, knowing it was a world meant for the wealthy and the reckless. But desperation drove them to climb the winding stairs to the glittering promenade, where holographic signs flashed promises of riches and adventure.
The vendor’s stall was easy to find. It sat at the edge of the market, bathed in an otherworldly light that seemed to ripple like water. The vendor himself was cloaked in shimmering fabric that made him look almost incorporeal, his face hidden beneath a hood.
“Looking for something rare?” the vendor asked, his voice a low purr.
“I heard you sell star fragments,” Ryn said, trying to keep their voice steady.
The vendor’s hood tilted, as if he were smiling. “Indeed. Fragments of pure starlight, plucked from dying stars. They can grant power, heal wounds, even cheat death. But they are not without a price.”
Stolen novel; please report.
“What kind of price?”
The vendor gestured to a small pedestal, where a shard of glowing crystal floated, pulsing faintly. “The fragment takes energy to sustain itself. If you use it, something must be drained to balance the power.”
Ryn hesitated. They didn’t know what the vendor meant, but they couldn’t walk away. Not when Ael’s life was on the line.
“How much?”
The vendor’s smile widened. “Not as much as you’d think. But the real question is: are you willing to pay the cost?”
----------------------------------------
Ryn left the market with the fragment in hand, its glow wrapped in layers of cloth to keep it hidden. They couldn’t shake the vendor’s words, but they didn’t have time for second thoughts. Ael was running out of time.
Back at the shop, Ryn unwrapped the fragment. It was warm to the touch, its light filling the room with a soft, golden glow.
“Hold on,” Ryn whispered, placing the fragment on Ael’s chest. The light flared, and for a moment, Ryn felt something pull at them—like a thread being unraveled.
When the light faded, Ael stirred, their color returning, their breathing steady.
“Ryn?” Ael murmured, their voice stronger than it had been in weeks.
Ryn exhaled, relief washing over them. “It’s okay,” they said. “You’re going to be okay.”
But the fragment’s glow dimmed slightly, and Ryn couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.
----------------------------------------
Over the next few days, Ael’s health improved dramatically. They regained their strength, their laughter filling the shop again. But strange things began happening across Solara.
The leviathan’s breathing grew irregular, its massive body shuddering beneath the city. The lights in the lower levels flickered, and the hum of the heartbeats grew faint. People whispered of cracks forming in the foundation, of structures collapsing without warning.
And then Ryn began to feel it: a deep exhaustion that no amount of rest could cure.
----------------------------------------
Desperate for answers, Ryn returned to the vendor.
“You didn’t tell me the fragment would harm the leviathan,” they accused, slamming the shard onto the stall’s counter.
The vendor’s hood tilted. “You didn’t ask.”
Ryn’s hands trembled. “How do I stop it?”
The vendor sighed. “The fragment’s energy is tied to the leviathan’s life force. It sustains itself by drawing from the creature. The more you use it, the more damage it will cause.”
“But Ael—”
“You must choose,” the vendor said. “Save your sibling or save the city.”
----------------------------------------
Ryn returned to the shop, the weight of the decision crushing them. Ael was asleep, their face peaceful for the first time in months.
Ryn clenched the fragment in their fist, its light dim but still pulsing. They couldn’t let the leviathan die—not when the entire city depended on it. But giving up the fragment meant risking Ael’s life again.
They made their decision as dawn broke over Solara.
----------------------------------------
Ryn climbed to the highest point of the city, where the leviathan’s skin stretched bare, its massive, glowing veins visible beneath the surface. Holding the fragment, they whispered an apology to Ael, to the city, and to the creature that had carried them all for so long.
The fragment flared one last time as Ryn plunged it into the leviathan’s flesh. The shard dissolved, its energy dispersing into the creature. The leviathan’s shuddering stopped, its heartbeat steadying as its strength returned.
But Ryn collapsed, the strain of the fragment’s cost finally overtaking them.
----------------------------------------
When Ael woke, they found a note from Ryn, scrawled in hurried handwriting.
“Live for both of us,” it read.
And as the city of Solara stabilized, its people unaware of the sacrifice that had saved them, Ael vowed to honor their sibling’s legacy—carrying their story forward like a fragment of starlight in the vast, endless dark.