The children in the carriage immediately woke up, their groggy expressions soon filling with panic as Emily’s voice alerted the entire convoy. Astra was disoriented. Never once in his life had he heard someone sound so distressed and terrified before. It was a prickly feeling, one that made him jump to action in an effort to be of help, yet regardless of how he tried to calm them the other kids were inconsolable. They peered out the window and trembled before the shower of light scattering across the sky.
The spectacle was so bright that it made the evening look no different than day. Shining, incandescent hues of blue and purple and white drowned the land awash in a colorful veil, yet what should have been a beautiful sight was instead a herald of disaster.
It was here, the Constellar Rain. Millions of comets descended upon their homesteads, and it was when met with their nigh-endless cluster that Astra simply couldn’t fathom how it was possible for anyone to survive, to win. There were just too many of them. No matter where the boy looked or how far out the expanse, every speck of it was swallowed up by those ravenous sparkling dots, and it seemed the entire earth would soon be devoured by them: wordlessly, helplessly, vanished into their blinding trail.
No wonder the children were so frightened. Up there, they were forced to stare directly at their incoming doom.
Astra didn’t know what to do. Before, whenever he struggled with an issue, there was always an answer or a solution so long that he didn’t give up and kept trying. Eventually he’d find a way to overcome it, but now… he had never felt so small and insignificant. In the grand scheme of the cosmos, he was just a little boy. There was no place for him in the war soon to follow.
But even so, there had to be something he could help with. Just because he couldn’t solve the biggest problem right away didn’t mean the littler ones were any less important. It was exactly like working on the farm: If you tried to fix everything at once, your crops would suffer because of it. First you needed to start small. Check the soil to make sure nothing’s wrong with it. Inspect the plants and see if any unwanted critters were nibbling on it. Make sure the water isn’t cloudy or dark.
And most importantly, always remember the big picture.
“Remember what paw taught ya…” the boy whispered to himself. “Easy in, easy out. Can’t think straight when yer stressed. Gotta keep cool and in control.”
Astra took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He pushed down the lump worming its way up from his stomach; then, he looked inward and assessed himself. Rather than obsess over what you couldn’t do, it was better to focus on the present and how you can lend a hand now.
When it came down to it, Astra’s goal was to keep the people around him safe. And so he steeled his nerves and stood straight up. He went to each kid and (lightly) gave their cheeks a wallop, a bit of a rough method but at least it helped snap them out of their daze. Then he shook them silly until they were more annoyed with him than the threat looming outside.
“What’re y’all shoutin’ and hollerin’ for when the knights are protecting us?” he shouted, making sure his voice was loud enough to ram right into their ears. “Everything’s gonna be okay. If yer too scared to look outside, then try to just look down at yer feet. A little wisdom from my momma: Pick somethin’ to focus on and don’t take your eyes off it. Time goes by a lot quicker when your brain’s busy.”
The kids sniffled and wiped their faces. They were still a little scared, but Astra’s words eventually got through to them, and they each huddled on the floor doing their very best to ignore what was happening outside.
The only one still frightened was Emily, who had snuck off to a corner and wept into her arms. Astra gently approached her and rubbed her back.
“I-I’m sorry, Astra,” she said through muffled sobs. “I tried to be brave, because that’s what a hero would do. They’re strong and confident and are never afraid no matter what. I wanted to be like that, too, but I guess deep down I just don’t have what it takes—I’m just another dumb girl from the boonies pretending to be something she isn’t.”
“Don’t say that, Emily! I think yer plenty brave right now,” he said, trying to cheer her up. “Besides… If ya ask me, I reckon even those heroes you admire get scared every now and then. It ain’t something to be ashamed of. It’s because we’re afraid of some things, and afraid of what’ll happen to the folks next to us, that we’re all the more motivated to fight.”
Even now, Astra had to suppress a little tremble from overtaking his chest. Of course he was scared. He could hear an annoying voice in his head screaming to run around, panic, give up and flop pathetically like a big-nose salmon out of water. Yet the reason he could ignore it and push on despite his fears was because his desire to protect his new friends overshadowed any other feeling.
For that, to him, was what defined a true hero.
“Even heroes get scared, huh?” Emily uttered, her throat slowly starting to steady. “I think… that makes them even cooler.”
The two of them suddenly jumped as a loud boom surged through the air. The earth quaked and the carriage shook violently from the force. As Astra poked his head out to locate the source of the commotion, he witnessed a breathtaking sight.
From the distance far to the north, a new star shot up and hurtled toward the descending rain. Its light was much warmer than the others, and as it soared high into the sky the star’s form grew larger, wider, until it began to resemble the image of a charging bronze bull with beefy muscles and thick hulking horns.
Astra couldn’t help but gaze at the figure whose stampede was intent on ploughing through the myriad comets.
“Speaking of heroes, there’s one right there.” Emily squished beside Astra and looked up at the celestial bull. “That’s King Bovicus, the Braggart Juggernaut. His reputation might be a bit iffy, but… even so, he’s a man of the people. And he’s pretty strong too.”
The ruler of Taurus kind wasn’t the only one who dared to challenge the Constellars. From the east came the prancing of a rambunctious ram, whose spiral horns accompanied an armored body of wool, and following it from the west was a crazed goat that twitched and trembled in a sadistic, uncontrollable frenzy.
The three highest lords of the planet’s three greatest nations: They gathered here now regardless of their differences to confront a common enemy, those who fell from the heavens.
King Bovicus was the first of the advance. He drew near the rain, pressed boldly ahead, and then… he collided horn-first with an earthshaking roar. And so the world shuddered. And the masses were left stricken in awe. Throughout the starry sky, a fiery blaze dispersed in trailing streaks as the bull, the goat, and the ram indiscriminately rampaged in that far-off space, all the while shining so radiantly bright.
Astra couldn’t take his eyes away. He closely watched the battle and seared it directly to his memory, for in time it would serve as an example of the heights he hoped to reach. One day, he too would be just like them.
And yet, even the lords and their mythical might weren’t capable of stopping every droplet. Some crept through, entered orbit, their bodies lit aflame from crossing the atmosphere, and turned into large smoldering chunks before crashing into the ground. Most had fallen near the major cities, with the capital of Boulderbrigg attracting the worst of the Constellars’ assault. However, there were a rare few who veered off course from the rest. Their path was random and their landings chaotic.
By a cruel twist of fate, one such cluster dived just in front of Astra’s convoy. Smoke billowed out from the scorched craters where they made impact. As it cleared, a strange sound began to swell, almost… musical in nature. Like the clinking of glass, a song recited from throats of crystal and instruments of cosmic dust. Astra’s brain stung the harder he tried to focus on it. An instinctual caution warned him from attempting to delve deeper, for his insight was still yet too shallow to comprehend the source of their harmonics, their origin that lay beyond the observable universe.
The sound intensified. It grew louder, surged in blaring horns; and then Astra saw them. He saw, for the first time, the figures of mankind’s eternal foes.
They were living meteorites. Cold, unfeeling, the Constellars staggered forth wordlessly, for they had no mouths, and they had no lips. They had no eyes to see nor ears to hear. They were moving, intelligent ores with outlines that somewhat resembled a man, yet were also distinctly alien at the same time. It was an uncanny sight. Astra recoiled, for in his bosom a primal revulsion forced him back. It screeched that these things must be avoided at all cost.
There was nowhere to run. The meteoric beings surrounded the convoy, leaving not an opening for the people to escape, and so the Knights of Greyhorn were forced to take defensive positions. They barked orders at the adults and had them stay with the children, while those who could fight formed a circle, their backs facing the worried eyes of those helpless to do naught else but pray to their patron Constellations.
Astra and his parents soon reunited, but it wasn’t a happy occasion. Henry and Edith hugged their child and squeezed tight along with the other adults in the cramped space. As much as they wanted to help, those unaccustomed to the knights’ methods would only get in the way.
“Just take long, deep breaths, Astra. Don’t mind anythin’ else.” Henry whispered to his son the same words given to the other kids not so long ago. But while the boy had already memorized them to heart, he still felt comforted by his father’s care. Mama Edith too joined them. She had to turn her face away though, for she didn’t want her child to see how startled she was.
Everyone hung their heads down and tried to ignore the battle. The only exception was Astra. Though the Constellars still frightened him, he couldn’t help but sneak brief glances outside, where the knights fought their utmost hardest to fend back the meteoric horde. They raised their axes and stone greatswords and, with a hefty step forward, cleaved through the Constellars rendering them little more than inanimate chunks of space rock.
Some persisted even after being split in half or having their lower body crushed. Only when their shine dimmed was it certain they’d move no more, like puppets falling limp from a cut string. In that regard the bullish knights were among the best suited to handle these foes. They needed no fancy techniques and instead thrashed wildly with pure brute strength and grit, as befitting the Taurus Constellation of earthquakes and tremors, and for a moment it seemed as if the danger would come to pass without casualties.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
But then, a Constellar different from the rest appeared. Unlike its brethren the thing was taller, lankier, and had a more sharply carved figure. One of the Greyhorn Knights charged with their battleaxe and attempted to cut it down, only for the blade to bounce off its hardened skin. With one thrust of the Constellar’s spear-like arm, it impaled their chest, and killed them.
Death. Astra witnessed a person die. The boy didn’t have the chance to prepare himself. Perhaps even if he did, he’d still feel exactly as he did now—sick, queasy, and most of all furious.
He did not know the fallen knight personally, but still they must’ve been someone with a home, a family, a friend. They lived a life Astra would never know yet was important and valuable all the same. They had their own dreams, experienced their own adventures and journeys. In all the vastness of the cosmos, their story uniquely belonged to them, and now it all came to an unceremonious conclusion.
If Astra were to ever lose one of his parents, or Aunt Caroline, or Grandma Belle, or even Meatball his best friend and loyal dog… he couldn’t imagine it, the grief and the gut-wrenching pain that’d follow. And now that very same pain would soon be forced onto those related to the knight and who’d never get to see their smile again.
Astra, for the first time in all his ten years of existence, was enraged. It bubbled inside him and threatened to leak out as his once-steady breaths turned erratic. He was sad; he was angry. And most of all, he cursed that he was still the protected instead of the protector. It was the worst feeling in the world, being unable to help as others died for him.
The abnormal Constellar’s slaughter continued, with the less adept knights falling victim to its nigh-impenetrable body. Only the captain of the convoy, the sole Starblessed, succeeded in carving a nick; but it was far from enough to stop the thing’s advance. The group was unlucky. That was all. Everyone here was simply cursed with poor luck, that they’d encounter a monster far beyond their capability.
In the end, the captain had to make a hard choice, and they shouted a new order to the last remaining knights. “Take the citizens and flee! Abandon me—I will stall this scourge to my dying breath.”
The Greyhorns bid their leader a solemn nod and carried out their duty immediately. One jumped into Astra’s carriage and headed toward the main seat, where after pushing some knobs and pulling a few levers, the vehicle roared to life and violently jerked forward as those outside sprinted to catch up, culling the lesser Constellars blocking their way. Astra never even got to ask the captain’s name, before their heroic figure faded from sight.
“We left ol’ Betsy behind—” Mama Edith began to say, but Henry covered her mouth and sorrowfully shook his head.
“Not here, hun,” he murmured. “Not… now.”
Thanks to the captain’s sacrifice, the convoy was able to escape. Only a quarter of the knights were with them now. Their spirits were understandably low, yet nevertheless they carried on, for they still had a responsibility to look after the young and vulnerable. It wouldn’t be long before their meteoric foes resumed their chase. As quickly as possible, the group had to flee and hope that the nearest city wasn’t under siege.
Not long after their departure, however, Astra saw a twinkling glint ahead of them. Then a flash whizzed by; it struck the carriage’s front, pierced through the window, and dug into the driver’s stomach, causing them to swerve right into a ditch and toppling everyone upside down in a rolling crash. Pain flared in every part of Astra’s body. All around him, people tumbled and collided against each other. His ears rang. His vision blurred, messy and incoherent. The boy’s parents yelled something, but he couldn’t make out their words.
Eventually, Astra managed to crawl outside of the wreckage. His forehead stung. When he touched it, blood covered his fingertips and trickled down his cheek. But he didn’t pay any attention to it now. Once he got his bearings straight, he rushed back into the collapsed vehicle and helped everyone else out, including his parents who fortunately weren’t too injured. His friend Emily, however, had suffered the worst from the impact and weakly sputtered when he carried her to safety. She was in no condition to walk.
“I-It hurts,” she muttered deliriously. “Hurts…”
No one had died, thankfully enough, but far away Astra could hear the knights clash with an unseen threat. It was only one. The culprit who attacked the vehicle. It was getting closer, and the knights one by one soon fell to a hush.
Then, from atop the ditch, a Constellar with long spikes growing from its husk emerged. It beheld the injured people as if they were no more than weeds to be pulled. There was no malice or deeper intent in the destruction it caused, only that mankind had to be eliminated. It served its role perfectly as a thoughtless, deliberate, inescapable harbinger of death.
Astra could feel it, down to his very bones. Everyone was going to die here. They had nowhere left to go and no one left to protect them. His parents, Emily, even the children… this was where it would all end.
Unless someone lured it away.
Astra looked up, and he whispered to the stars—the real ones, not the fakes who attacked his home now. No matter how hard he tried before, or how much he spoke to them, they never replied back. Perhaps his voice simply wasn’t strong enough to reach where they lived, but that was okay. He never expected them to.
But now, just this once, he hoped that they’d listen to his wish. It wasn’t anything too complicated. All he wanted… was for them to remember him. Remember that he once lived.
“Guess this is the end of the line, Lady Selene,” Astra mumbled, winding his arms back and making sure his legs were in tip-top condition. “I know I promised to see ya again and all, but if I were to leave these people behind, abandon them just so I could live… well, I’d be a right scoundrel, and someone never worth yer expectations. I really did want to go, though. To school.”
The boy glanced at Emily, and he saw how hurt and terrified she was. Looking at her he was reminded of the resolution he made back at Grandma Belle’s house. He swore to himself then to become a man who’d make others smile. Now was the time to make good on that oath. Sadly, he didn’t think he’d be there to see her when that moment came.
“... Stardew?” Mama Edith said, reaching out to him. “What’re ya doing?”
He tapped his shoes, warmed up his body, and apologized. “I’m sorry.”
To fight for the right, without question or pause. To be willing to march into danger for a cause more than just themself. That was what a true hero was, even if fate inevitably led them to their doom.
Astra raised his foot, and then he took off running.
“Astra! Stop—”
The boy didn’t turn around. He didn’t look back. His legs surged with adrenaline and his blood felt burning hot. He charged the abnormal Constellar confidently, glueing his eyes to every twitch and movement it made. When it grabbed one of its spikes and started to throw, he dodged to the side, avoiding it, and then slid on the muddy grass before kicking the thing’s shin. Of course that didn’t do any damage. He only needed to make it focus on him, to turn it away from the others.
Astra’s plan worked, and the Constellar soon gave chase as he ran in the opposite direction. He ran for a very, very long time. He had plenty of practice back home at the farm. Sometimes he’d spend all day in the forest, just rushing past trees and swinging around on vines. He was glad for it now, because for every second he lured the Constellar to who-knows-where, the chances of the others escaping were all the more likely. It didn’t matter that his joints creaked and screamed in agony. He could endure anything if it meant protecting their futures.
On and on, he fled while narrowly avoiding the Constellar’s spikes. An entire hour had passed before, eventually, his throat filled with ice, and his limbs started to slow. He was still just a little kid, after all. That he managed to evade his pursuer this long was nothing short of a miracle.
But alas, Astra’s destiny had finally come, as a sharp pain jabbed into his leg, and he slumped over while clutching at the large spike now embedded in his flesh. The Constellar loomed over him blandly. As daybreak began to rise, the boy was shrouded entirely in its shadow, and so his final moments were to be cast in darkness.
Yet even so, Astra didn’t regret a thing.
“Goodbye, everyone. Even if I’m gone, please don’t be too sad.”
The Constellar raised its spike. It prepared to deliver the final blow.
And then, before Astra could even blink, its head was sliced clean off with a single stroke of a milky blade.
It stood rigidly for a moment, unable to comprehend its own death. Then it collapsed into a foggy clump, revealing behind it a blinding figure that stole Astra’s breath away.
There, before him, stood a young boy no taller than himself. He even looked the same age, except unlike Astra he was wreathed in a cloak made of stardust—a bit like Lady Selene—only he also had the fierceness of a warrior and a tired scowl as if he had rushed all the way from across the galaxy just to be here, in this moment. What drew the most attention from Astra, however, was the obsidian crown atop the boy’s head.
It had the crests of every single Constellation. Every one. From the land-roaming lords like Taurus, Capricorn, and Aries, to those more unique in concept like the twins of Gemini and the Scales of Libra. Astra had heard from Aunt Caroline that, very rarely, a Starblessed might be bestowed with two patrons’ insignias. Yet right here was someone with all twelve.
“Damn it, why does this planet have to be so big? It’s like trying to find a wrinkle in the middle of an aetherstorm. The Maiden of Iron Thorns has to be here somewhere…”
The mysterious boy raised his head and took notice of Astra. “Hm? Oh, apologies, Didn’t see you there. Let me help out with that.”
Astra was too shocked to utter a word as the boy walked up, carefully pulled the spike out, and then muttered a cryptic spell. In no time at all, Astra’s wound closed up and healed so perfectly that it was as if he had never gotten hurt in the first place.
“U-um, thank you,” he shyly said.
The boy waved him off with a nonchalant gesture. “Don’t mention it, kid. By the way… got a favor to ask. Do you know a girl by the name of Emily, by chance? About this big, real nasty temper, has a glare that looks at you like dirt. Can’t miss it.”
The descriptions mentioned certainly didn’t seem to resemble her, but the name did match so Astra nodded. “I dunno know if she’s the one yer lookin’ for, but yeah I think so.”
“Really?” the boy suddenly leaned in and grabbed Astra’s shoulder, shaking him. “How’s she doing? Any traumatic events happen lately? Something that, oh, I don’t know, might irreparably alter her personality and leave her with grueling trauma that’ll linger for the rest of her life. Possibly?”
Astra shook his head. “I mean, she seemed pretty friendly when I met her. Though recently we did take a bit of a tumble after that monster you just, um, killed attacked us. But other than a few scraps I think she’ll be fine.”
“Is that so? Guess I wasn’t too late after all. Phew, that’s one promise settled…”
The boy turned around and began to leave. It was all so peculiar. Astra had assumed he’d die here, only to be saved by this mysterious cloaked boy with unimaginable powers as if he were personally handpicked to be the Constellations’ successor, their chosen one. And Astra could see why. The way he swooped in and so effortlessly took down the Constellar… Astra thought to himself then that this is what a true hero must look like.
Someone who appeared in one’s time of need, and brought hope when all seemed lost.
“What’s… your name?” Astra asked.
The mysterious boy stopped for a moment and pondered hard, before replying with a light chuckle, “You don’t need to know, kid. Just think of me as an echo in the wind.”
With that, the boy disappeared, and Astra was left starstruck from their encounter. His reply wasn’t quite what he had hoped, but it sent a clear message: Astra as he was now wasn’t someone he expected to meet again.
But nonetheless, Astra remained undeterred. Someday they’d surely cross paths again. Until that moment came, he’d work hard to shine just as brightly as he did.
For now though, the young starry-eyed child picked himself up and then staggered his way back in the direction he came. His parents would no doubt give him the scolding of a lifetime once he returned. That was okay. Because… though it didn’t end as tragically as he thought it would, Astra had achieved his quest.
He saved the people he loved. That in itself was the only reward he needed.
