Endless Stars by Alma Amalgam

Stars are all Kinri has. Exiled from the noble heights of the sky, she scrapes by in the backwater crags of the land of glass and secrets. It’s a chance to make friends and live a simple life away from her family — that’s all she wants. She’s different now, and she’ll prove it. But can she even convince herself?

Meanwhile, in the long shadow of her legendary alchemist grandfather, Hinte struggles to find something to call her own. Out in the depths of the town’s volcanic lake, she sifts for mysterious stones, and it seems she’s found it — but her new sense of purpose doesn’t escape those around her.

United by circumstance, the pair struggle to find common ground. When Kinri finally convinces Hinte to bring her along on a sifting expedition, her curiosity quickly turns to bafflement as the mysteries pile up, and her new companion remains tight-lipped and distant. Is this just sifting, or something more?