How hadn’t she seen this? How, after all these years in exile with nothing to do but relive the memories of everything that had been taken from her…How hadn’t she known?

Yes, she was far from her homeland, her powers weakened, but she could still see things…and this was no ordinary thing. This was something that should have been ingrained on her very soul. It must have taken the most powerful Kengian magic to mask it from her all this time.

Like every Kengian, she had been born with magic in her veins. With the right training and dedication, Kengians could become one with nature and with every living object’s lifeforce, or kira. They could use their understanding of kira to weave a complex dialogue with the natural elements. They could harness the power within nature, performing feats such as making crops flourish in once barren lands.

Then there were the silver-eyes, who were even more attuned to nature. They could hear and understand the gurgling voice of a waterfall. The air’s whispers in the wind. The creaking greeting of a bamboo forest. Some could even perform simple tricks, like moving a stone without touching it, and one silver-eyes in every generation of the Kengian royal family was gifted with extraordinary elemental magic. They had the power to bend nature to their will – magnifying it, manipulating it and moulding it to their own needs.

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Those Kengians not born to wield magic learnt it. There were Shamans, who could meld their minds with animals and catch glimpses of the past and possible futures, and there were Scholars – those who studied science and spells that captured and shaped the essence of kira.

She was all of these things and none of them. She was much more.

Not only could she be at one with a creature, she could transform herself into one. She didn’t just see occasional visions of what may happen; she could divine the future and prophesise on command. She saw the invisible threads that bound every lifeforce in this world and could call on them to do her bidding. She was the light and darkness itself.

So only she could understand that the most powerful magic in all of Kypria was in play, and only she knew who was capable of conjuring up the spell to conceal this from her…The only other living Firemaster.

And now that she did know, she and all those she loved would be avenged.

A new future must be forged.

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