Book 1: The Star That Fell Into My Backyard
Episode 1: The Night That Changed Everything
The village slept beneath a blanket of stars, tucked into a silent corner of the world where time moved slow and dreams felt like fragile things. The air was cool and sweet, the kind of night where the wind carried forgotten songs and old secrets.
Alia stood barefoot outside her family's wooden home, her eyes tracing the stars scattered across the velvet sky. She had just turned eighteen last week. No party. No celebration. Just another day tending goats, helping her father fix broken tools, and enduring the endless ache of surviving one meal at a time.
She sighed, the breath catching in her chest. One day, she told herself. One day she'd leave this place behind. She'd chase something bigger than cracked soil and empty cupboards.
Then the sky split.
A streak of blue light tore across the heavens like a sword, brighter than anything she had ever seen. It hummed through the air, vibrating in her bones. Alia watched, stunned, as the object swerved, descended, and vanished behind the forested hills just outside their farmland. Then came the explosion—a thunderous, ground-shaking boom that made the birds scream and sent distant goats scattering.
She should have run inside. But instead, she ran toward it.
Branches snapped under her feet as she pushed through the treeline, heart pounding in her ears. The forest felt alive with electricity. The leaves whispered warnings. Smoke curled upward, the air hot and sharp.
When she broke through the last thicket, she found a crater. It was massive—a smoldering wound in the earth. Metal fragments glittered like stars around the wreckage.
In the center, among the debris, was a man.
Or something that looked like one.
He was lying on his back, body wrapped in a sleek black suit that shimmered like liquid armor. Strange silver lines pulsed beneath the surface. A metallic band blinked on his wrist, symbols scrolling in an alien language. He wasn't burnt. Not a scratch.
His face was still, too still. Perfect features, like something carved from light and shadow. He didn't look dead. Just... waiting.
Alia stepped closer.
"Hey," she whispered. "Can you hear me?"
His eyes opened.
A soft, unnatural blue glow lit up the whites of his eyes, like twin moons flickering in his gaze. He sat up without effort, gaze sweeping the area.
Alia stumbled back.
"You're not from here."
He tilted his head, as if considering her words. "No. But I was nearby. Too nearby."
His voice was calm, deep, like a forgotten language wrapped in warmth. Each syllable resonated.
He tried to stand but winced, falling to one knee. Alia rushed forward before she could stop herself. Her hands touched his arm—solid, warm, very real.
"You need help. That crash—"
"I will regenerate. But not quickly. I overcorrected..." He looked up at her. "You were the first to find me. That matters."
"Matters how?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he looked past her, toward the moonlit trees.
"This place is old. This land has memories. It welcomed me. That's rare."
Alia stared. "You're insane. Or I'm dreaming."
"Neither. My name is Cael. I come from Oryndas. A world far older than this one."
A silence passed between them.
Then, as if drained, he collapsed.
Alia didn't think. She hauled his arm over her shoulder and dragged him from the wreckage, grunting with the effort. She couldn't leave him here. Not for wolves. Not for the world.
Somehow, the forest guided her. The path back opened like a river around rocks. By the time she reached her home, her limbs trembled and her breath came in shudders.
She hid him in the old barn, under a thick tarp and faded blankets. Her father was already asleep. No one saw. No one asked.
The stars outside still shimmered. But tonight, they had lost one of their own.
And she had found him.
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Episode 2: The Stranger in the Barn — Coming Next