Alan didn't believe in legends, although his whole family loved evening tales of distant kingdoms and ancient beings. He himself preferred to look up at the stars, imagining that amazing things lay behind their light. One night, as he was walking back through the forest from the school observatory, he noticed a strange glow among the pines. It was a blue stone, glinting in the moonlight like a hidden part of the sky. Alan bent down, and an icy shiver ran down his spine as he touched the stone's surface. In an instant, he heard a quiet whisper and felt as if an unfamiliar but fascinating voice was penetrating his mind. The boy closed his eyes and saw images: a huge city built on hanging gardens, flying islands and figures that looked a little like people and a little like shadows laced with stardust. The next morning Alan was convinced it was a dream, but the stone was firmly in his hand. He took it to school, hidden deep in his pocket. During the day it seemed to him that the world around him was changing imperceptibly: the shadows in the corridors were too long, and the impulsive light came through the glass in shades he had not seen before. When he met Nadia, his friend from the astronomy circle, during a break, he decided to tell her everything. Nadia looked at him in disbelief for a moment, but when he showed her the stone, her eyes lit up. Then she pulled an old book out of her backpack that she had found a month earlier in an antique shop. On one of the pages was a drawing of an almost identical stone and notes in an unknown language. They struggled to decipher a few words that sounded like a warning and an invitation at the same time. The more they read, the more convinced they became that they had to investigate the case to the end. That same evening they returned to the forest where Alan had found the stone. As soon as they stood together in the spot he remembered, the sky turned a shade of dark blue and a cool mist began to swirl around them. The stone pulsed with a bright light and a path flashed before them that had not been there before-it led deep into the woods, towards an old, long-abandoned tower. With each step Alan and Nadia felt the air thicken and the sounds of the forest grow quieter. Suddenly, a figure emerged from behind the trees. Her figure was taller than a man, and her eyes shone silvery. She spoke in a voice that resonated both in the air and in their heads: "Are you ready to cross the border of worlds and learn the truth that your world has forgotten?" Alan felt his heart beat faster. Nadia squeezed his hand. Before them, like a living barrier, stood someone the human world had not seen for centuries. What would happen if they took a step forward?