Chadwick Rye

The Observatory of Eternal Midnight perched atop the highest tower in Astralholm, its dome of enchanted glass reflecting constellations that had long since burned out in the actual sky. Inside, Master Astronomer Cassius Vex hunched over star charts centuries in the making, his spine curved into a permanent question mark after decades of peering through enchanted lenses.

Lyra paused at the doorway, her breath forming delicate frost patterns that dissolved almost immediately in the warmth of the observatory. She clutched her journal tighter, the discovery within burning like a coal in her mind—too hot to hold, too precious to discard.

“Enter or depart, apprentice,” Master Vex called without looking up, “but spare me the draft of your indecision.”

The copper telescopes and celestial mechanisms surrounding him ticked and whirred, each calibrating to track stars invisible to the naked eye. Lyra stepped inside, letting the heavy oak door swing shut behind her. The familiar scents of polished brass, aging parchment, and the peculiar vanilla-like aroma of star charts welcomed her back to her second home.

“I’ve made a discovery, Master.” Her voice emerged steadier than she expected, though her fingers trembled as she opened her journal to the observations recorded during last night’s vigil.

“Discovery,” Vex echoed, the word dancing between dismissal and curiosity. “A grand word for an apprentice in her third year. Tell me, what wonders has the universe revealed to one so new to its language?”

Rather than answering, Lyra approached the central platform where the Grand Orrery spun in perfect miniature reflection of the cosmos. With practiced hands, she adjusted the controls, accelerating the model’s movement until the brass planets blurred into golden streaks.

“Observe Selenai’s orbit,” she instructed, indicating the smaller of the twin moons. “When viewed at this acceleration, the pattern emerges.”

Master Vex raised one silver eyebrow but complied, his eyes—one natural brown, one replaced with a crystalline prosthetic that perceived wavelengths beyond mortal sight—focusing on the spinning model. For several heartbeats, nothing changed in his expression. Then, slowly, the perpetual furrow in his brow deepened.

“Impossible,” he whispered, leaning closer. “The orbit is… fluctuating.”

“Not fluctuating,” Lyra corrected gently, “dancing. Selenai’s orbit follows a pattern identical to the ancient Celestial Waltz described in the Empyrean Codex. The moon is moving precisely as the First Astronomers predicted it would at the turning of the cosmic age.”

The realization settled over Master Vex like a physical weight. His shoulders sank as he reached for the control panel, slowing the model to better observe the subtle rhythm in the moon’s movement. “The prophecy…”

“Is coming to pass,” Lyra finished. “Last night, I cross-referenced the orbital variations with the Seven Celestial Signifiers. All seven criteria have been met. The Age of Awakening has begun.”

Outside the observatory windows, Selenai itself hung visible in the afternoon sky, a pale ghost against azure blue. To ordinary citizens below, it appeared unchanged—the same silent companion that had watched over Astralholm for millennia. None would notice the subtle shift in its dance, the whispered promise of transformation.

Master Vex straightened to his full height, suddenly looking older than his considerable years. “Do you understand what this means, apprentice? What you have discovered?”

Lyra nodded, the weight of knowledge pressing against her chest like a stone. “The boundaries between realms will thin. Magic long dormant will reawaken. The Slumbering Court will stir in their crystal chambers beneath the mountains.”

“And the world as we know it will transform,” Vex added softly, his crystalline eye gleaming with reflected starlight. “For better or worse, none can say.”

He turned toward her fully now, seeing not the apprentice who had fumbled her first telescope calibration three years prior, but a fellow witness to cosmic revelation. “This knowledge—it is the last thing you learned as merely an apprentice. What comes after will be learned by Astronomer Lyra, for I cannot in good conscience deny you the title any longer.”

The unexpected promotion barely registered against the magnitude of her discovery. Lyra stared at the Orrery, watching Selenai continue its ancient dance around their world. “Should we warn the Council? The Academy? The people?”

Vex’s laugh held no humor, only the rueful acknowledgment of powers beyond control. “Warn them of what, precisely? That the cosmic wheels turn as they always have and always will? That change comes whether invited or not?”

He moved to a cabinet locked with both mundane and magical means, withdrawing a bottle of amber liquid that caught the light like trapped fire. “The universe has shared its secret with you, Astronomer Lyra. The proper response is not panic, but reverence.”

He poured two small measures into silver cups etched with constellations long vanished from mortal sight. “The last thing you learned under my tutelage was the first whisper of a new age. Let us honor the moment before we bear its burden.”

They raised their cups in silent toast beneath the spinning Orrery as, overhead, Selenai continued its imperceptible waltz—the opening movement in a cosmic symphony that would transform their world in ways neither astronomer could fully comprehend, but both were privileged to witness.

Knowledge, Lyra realized as she sipped the sweet fire of starlight wine, was neither ending nor beginning, but a single gleaming point in an infinite procession of discovery. What she had learned last would become the foundation of all she would learn next, as the cosmic dance continued its eternal, perfect progression.

Step into the Observatory of Eternal Midnight and witness the turning of the cosmic age. Read The Apprentice’s Discovery now and uncover the secrets hidden among the stars!

If you like this little story please consider subscribing to my blog so that you don’t miss any new ones. Also you can check out other stories that I have written and are currently writing like Forbidden Bond, a tale about a human falling in love with a Half goblin while being hunted down by fallen angels and evil nobles. Or you can check out Chronicles of the Giantess and follow Valorie the Giantess as she adventures across the land of Calladan. Please feel free to leave me a comment. I would love to know what you think about any of the stories.