When the Heavens Unfold

Previously

…It was unfolding before her eyes. The Lumina’s arrival, intended as a plea for sanctuary, was already being perceived as an act of aggression by a world unprepared for such a profound revelation. She looked from the descending vessels to the stern, unwavering light of Kael, then to the gentle glow of the Lumina who had offered her peace. The gulf between their worlds had just widened into an abyss, and she, Elara Vance, the astrophysicist who had always felt a connection to the stars, was now standing precariously on the edge, tasked with bridging it before it consumed them all. The gentle light of the Lumina had arrived, but it was already casting long, ominous shadows.