In the devastating aftermath of the worldwide natural disasters that most Fenin’s attributed to the battle on top of Mount Sha’ire, many children were left as orphans. Though Ahna was one long before that. She never met her real parents, and she lived in an orphanage in a small town in the southernmost part of Obsidian. This town, known as Reddeck, was far from the most luxurious of places to live. Basically, the slums of Obsidian, Reddeck had few businesses and almost everyone living there was struggling to get by.

Young Ahna wanted to help the people of Reddeck, but she didn’t know how. Until one day, Ahna’s life changed forever. A traveler came through the town, one that was well versed in magic. He showed off his talents to the orphans. Magicians have come through Reddeck before, hired by the owners of the orphanage to try to give the children some entertainment. Ahna had seen quite a few in her day, but this traveler was different.

His act was what you would expect from any magician until he got closer to the finale of his bit. He presented the children with an empty bucket and showed it to them to confirm its emptiness. Then with a wave of his hand the traveling magician created water in the bucket. The children were amazed and shocked. Then the magician presented them with an empty glass and with a snap of his fingers the glass filled with water. In a town struggling to get by, even the adults took notice of a man making water out of thin air.

Shrugging it off as a cheap magic trick, the adults didn’t think twice of it. Later that night while getting ready for bed and helping the younger orphans get settled in. One of the orphans noticed that strands of Ahna’s hair had changed color.

“You must be seeing things,” Ahna assured the orphan. “Get some rest.”

“No, look!” another orphan approached Ahna with a small mirror and showed her. Through the dirt on the mirror, Ahna saw that her own hair now had blue highlights. When one of the adults entered the room to see what the ruckus was about, Ahna showed the adult her hair. A sudden look of concern appeared on the adult’s face, and they ushered Ahna out of the room.

That night, without explanation, Ahna slept in a room all alone. It had been the first time she was separated from the other orphans since she got to this orphanage. At only sixteen years old, Ahna didn’t know what to expect. When morning came, one of the adults that helped run the orphanage came to get her. Phoebe was her name, and she was the most loved and respected of the adults. Phoebe escorted Ahna outside and told her that the lineage in which she came from was very special. Taken aback by her words, Ahna immediately tried to dig deeper for as much information as she could from Phoebe.

Unfortunately, there was only so much Phoebe knew, but Phoebe knew that Ahna had special abilities. Phoebe asked what Ahna thought of the magic show the night before.

“I thought some parts were fake,” said Ahna. “... And some were real.”

“Real? How could magic be real?” Phoebe asked, already knowing the answer.

“Creating the water in the bucket… It felt different somehow,” Ahna looked down at her own hands wondering if magic could actually be real.

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Phoebe went and fetched an empty bucket and placed it on the floor in front of Ahna. The two stood in silence for a moment. Ahna looked up at Phoebe, then back down at her hands. Finally, she looked past her own hands and at the empty bucket. She closed her eyes. Phoebe moved behind her and got Ahna’s hair off her shoulders and out of her way. Pulling the strands back and getting out the tangles with her fingers.

“Do you remember the time we took a trip near the border of Vorpal?” asked Phoebe.

“Of course,” replied Ahna. “That was one of the best days of my life.”

“Picture the river we saw that day. Think of its sapphire-like color. The sound of its directional flow. The fish of the goddess Morska. How did the water taste? Remember the smells of the forest we traveled through and the accompanying aromas of Vorpal off in the distance.”

Ahna took a deep breath and suddenly from the bottom-up water began to fill the bucket.

“Ahna, look! You’re doing it!”

Ahna looked down in shock as she filled the bucket to the brim. She turned around and hugged Phoebe.

“I can help Reddeck like this!” Ahna said in excitement. And she did just that. No one would go thirsty again in Reddeck as long as Ahna was there. She had purpose and it made her feel better about this life that was previously out of her control.

The water magic stayed with her for a long time, however, on her eighteenth birthday her life took another sudden turn. King Ingvar and Lord Kazai were on the brink of war, but both rulers had to secure their own land first before fighting each other. King Ingvar’s Obsidian Knights were terrorizing the entire countryside and Reddeck was no exception. The adults panicked to protect and hide the orphans, but the attack came out of nowhere.

Ahna, being the oldest orphan there, helped the adults get the orphans to safety and helped hide them in a cellar underneath the orphanage. Once that was done, Phoebe grabbed Ahna by the hand and led her to another secure location. A hiding spot inside one of the wooden walls of the orphanage.

“You must stay here as long as it takes until they leave,” As Phoebe spoke, Ahna could only nod as the fear was starting to take over her body. “No matter what happens, you must never show them what you are.”

Ahna could feel Phoebe’s arms shaking too as she held them on her own, but just as Ahna was going to turn and get in the hiding spot a sword swung down and slashed Phoebe from behind. An Obsidian Knight stood behind Phoebe as she collapsed to the ground. Ahna tried to run, but the Obsidian Knight grabbed her by her hair and turned around toward the entrance of the room.

“Look what we got here,” began the Knight. As Ahna was turned around, she saw a tall man with scars all over his face standing in the doorway. Ahna was even more terrified by the sight of the man, but she suddenly realized the man holding her by the hair didn’t know this man either. “Wait… Who are you?”

Ahna could see a few dead Obsidian Knights behind the man in question. She could also see he was holding a katana drenched in their blood. The Obsidian Knight let go of her and she dropped to the floor. She closed her eyes and looked away, but the fight - if you could even call it that - was over in mere seconds. The man holding her by the hair a moment ago hit the floor with a hard thud.

“Please don’t hurt me!” Ahna put up her arms in surrender.

“Are you Ahna?” asked the man.

“Y-Yes…” Ahna looked up at him. Despite his scary appearance, she suddenly felt very calm around him. She stood up.

The man put his bloodied katana back in its sheath. “Good. I’m Jeck. I’ve been hired to protect you.”