Rene and I walk for a while to get to the south end of the town. The school the children are in is there. After another few minutes, the silence gets to me, and I ask Rene a burning question I’ve been having.

“Rene, what’s it like to fight in a proper battle?” I ask Rene as we make our way to the school.

She stays silent as we walk. Then, finally, I look over at her, and she looks at me and sighs.

“I’ve only been in one or two serious battles where lives were on the line. So what I can say about fighting against someone who intends to kill you is.” She pauses and takes a breath.

“The only thing I can advise is not to give them sympathy if they intend to kill you or someone you care for. Take them out as fast as possible. Don’t be afraid to play dirty; show them no mercy because they won’t give you the same courtesy.” Rene says her voice is cold and callous.

“I see, and what if they’re stronger than you?” I ask.

“Run, live to fight another day, and come back later to try again,” Rene says. Her words are profound, and her usual playful demeanor is wholly gone.

“What if you can’t run or if running will cause more harm than good?” Rene makes a dead stop, kicking up some dirt. Some of the crowd stops to look at her.

She turns her head. “If that ever happens and you can’t run, you have two options.”

“W…what are they?” I ask, the suspense killing me.

“One is to escape. That’s always your best option is to live. Option two is if you can’t win and all seems lost. If you can, take them to the grave with you.” Another pause.

“Fight. Fight until the bitter end.” Then she walks away.

Rene nods but keeps her eyes forward. “Alva is the best one to ask because she fought in the Civil War even at thirteen, so she’s done nothing but fight in battles her entire life. She is the definition of a warrior. Now, let’s hurry to find these kids. Venny wants us to help. And get your lessons too.”

“Yeah, sure, let’s go.” I nod.

We walked through the town for a while and finally ended up at the school, a small but wide brick building decorated with drawings painted on the structure and colorful flowers on the roof, like all the rest of the houses. The pictures are all of a stick figure with large black and red wings. I guess Venus is flying with a large bow, shooting down an army of stick-figure enemies. Some kids are running around the playground; some are drawing on the school, and others have wooden weapons. They have crafted bows, wooden swords, and spears fighting. Some have trash can lids as their shield. I hear the kids fighting words as Rene and I reach the school grounds.

A small boy with yellow and gray wings swings his sword at a taller boy with pure-looking golden wings who holds a spear and a wooden barrel lid as a shield. “You shall fall Voyager the Great!”

The taller boy blocks the attack, swings his spear at the more petite boy’s legs, and knocks him on his rear. He holds his spear against the boy’s neck. “I will never falter to a weakling like you, whether in pretend or in real life.”

We see a beautiful Sylphan walk out of the school with dark golden wings and bright white stripes across them in a vertical pattern. Carrying a big twin-sided ax on her back, she is quite tall. She has a red cloak draped across her right side, with black leather armor and a pauldron on her shoulder that extends down her arm and then stops at her fingertips. She flips her gray hair behind her head and smiles.

“Xavier, you shouldn’t be so rough with Zengan; he is much younger than you.” The boy who walked away from the other looked up at the tall sylphan and bowed.

“Sorry, Sensei, it’s just we are on the verge of a war, and they are pretending it’s not happening.” Then he walks past her and heads inside the building.

The older sylphan shakes her head and walks over to Rene and me, who have been watching the spectacle.

“You must be Emelia and Rene. Glad you are here; the kids need a couple of warriors who aren’t their teachers and are younger to help calm their minds and spirits.” The woman towers over Rene and me by at least fifty centimeters.

“You’re so tall,” I say out loud and quickly cover my mouth.

The woman smiles. “Yes, around one hundred and ninety-five centimeters.” Then, she stands at full height and spreads out her wings, giving a dominant feeling.

I feel my cheeks blush at the woman.

“How do you want us to help?” Rene asks.

“Well, Alva came to me early this morning and asked me to teach you about magic, so you and I are going to spar Emelia while I teach you whatever you want to know.”

Rene and I look at each other and nod." Yeah, we can do that; take us to them." Rene says with a smirk.

“They’re sweet kids, I promise. Also, my name is Lyra Noryn, Queen Venus’s right hand. The kids call me Mrs. Nyn. They think my last name is hard to say.” She smiles at that, and I can tell she cares for these kids by how she talks so cheerfully about them.

“Children, please put your weapons away and get ready for a sparring match soon. We also have guests.”

The kids all set their wooden weapons against the side of the school building and, in a single file line, enter the school.

We walk inside the building and see all the young Sylphans sitting on the ground with small pillows underneath them. They are all chatting amongst themselves until Lyra claps loudly, and then all eyes turn to us.

“Okay, my younglings, I’d like to introduce you to Rene and Emelia. They have come from the Capitol to help us with the battle. Also, Emelia will be sparing with me today.” Lyra looks at us and nods to us to introduce ourselves.

Rene goes first. “Heya, I’m Rene, and I am, as Mrs. Nyn said from the capital. I lived there for most of my life. Excitingly, I am also a member of the King’s Elite.”

Some kids have wider eyes than normal for a sylphan. They begin whispering to each other.

Rene looks at me and smiles. I feel my nerves rising. Rene puts a hand on my shoulder and whispers. “Go on.” In my ear.

I take a deep breath and smile." H…hello, I am Emelia. I was not born in the capital, but in a city called Bladesfall. I have just joined as a new member of the King’s Elite." With that, I nod and scurry back to my spot.

“Great, now grab your pillows and let’s head outside for our lesson.” Mrs. Nyn says, walking to the door and waves us outside.

We head outside the door and see a big open area with plenty of space. Mrs. Nyn looks around and nods.

“Today, kids, you will watch Emelia and I spar. She may be older than you, but she is still young and has much to learn. But she can still teach you something, so sit back and pay attention to myself and her.

“Emelia, let’s begin.” I walk over to Mrs Nyn. She bows to me and I do the same.

“Real quick. What do you know about how magic works?” Mrs Nyn asks me.

“We gain magic through mzynes in the air, being absorbed into our metacores and sent through our arconamy system, to be used and molded by the mzynes in the air.” I say.

She nods, a hand on her chin. “Good, that’s the basics, but it goes much deeper than that.”

I feel her aura come out and then, in a quick motion, Mrs Nyn disappears into a mist and I lose sight of her. A small kick to the back of my calf causes me to turn around and see her there.

“How did I turn into that mist and appear behind you?” She raises an eyebrow.

“The mzynes themselves absorbed you.” She claps.

“Good mzynes are the key to understanding magic; knowing how to interact with them and how to use them while using your magic can help you win battles.” Mrs Nyn disappears again, not like Alva does who disappears instantly. It’s like Mrs. Nyn melts away.

She appears behind the kids, who all clap excitedly at the trick. “Emelia, I was told you can control the wind, yes?”

“I can yes.” I watch her like a hawk wondering when she'll strike she is just putting on a show on for the kids.

“Tell me how?” She jumps up and over the kids without using her wings. Showing the strength in her legs.

She lands behind me nimbly then pushes me to the ground easy but enough to show the strength difference between us. I stand up, feeling a little annoyed. “The myznes live in the wind.” They are everywhere the wind, ocean, the tharian soil, us everywhere basically.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Yes, magic is a byproduct of mzynes eating the natural starlight and giving off an energy that your metacore can use.”

“That’s basic stuff. How does one get stronger? Why is there such a difference between Alva and myself? This is what I want to know, how to get stronger than I am.” I try to take a swing at her as she is still behind me, but she melts away again.

“You become stronger by becoming more in touch with your body. The stronger your mind and body are the more mzynes you can absorb and use at once.” She pauses.

“You could also take a vow and or use your three limiters. Lastly, emotions play a minor part in the strength of a spell, but that’s a complicated matter.” She looks at the kids.

“Xavier stand up and explain what the three limiters are?” The tall sylphan from earlier stands up and speaks.

“The limiters are what regulates the amount of magic entering and exiting your body through your metacore.” Then he sits down.

“Great job Xavier.” Then a swell of pressure comes from Noryn as she opens her first limiter.

“The first limiter floods your body with mzynes and lets blood flow through your body faster and strengthens your muscles. The risks of using this for too long includes the possibility of your heart burning out. At most, a well trained solider can stay in the form for five hours.”

Then a massive surge of energy. I feel my eyes open wide as I can feel her power double as she opens her second limiter. Her aura covers her body as her strength rises.

“This is the second limiter. It opens two of your limiters, doubling the amount of mzynes and magic you are absorbing passively. This can double your power, strength, and natural sense it’s very useful in a pinch.” She drops her limiters and her power goes back to normal.

“The dangers of the second limiter is It can send you into….battle dysfunction. If used for too long.” She looks away from the kids and at me.

Everyone knows about battle dysfunction. it’s a curse all mages can fall into.

Mrs. Nyn sighs and stretches away the fatigued of using her limiters so close together.

“Battle dysfunction, the curse of magic where it can drive you mad and want nothing but to fight stronger and stronger people. One can manage it, but most people who fall into it go too far into the thrill of battle and become too far gone.” She walks over to the kids.

“Why do I bring this up Jesen?” A little female sylphan with pink wings and black dots on them stands up.

“Using the third limiter sends you into Battle Dysfunction almost immediately, but it can triple your power, making you as strong as you could be at that moment.” The little girl sits as Mrs. Nyn ruffles her hair playfully.

“Great, that is a way to get power, Emelia, buts that’s a dangerous path using the limiters. Even then, using the second and third limiter is very painful to accomplish. Few can use them.”

She thinks for a moment. “For you just practice. It’s the best way to get stronger. learnt to understand how your spells work, and how much magic needs to be in them, how much to use."

“A mage can learn a spell, buy understanding your magic and how to use the science of how their magic works can allow them to invent ones themselves to which others can learn by you showing them the science behind your magic.”

“Thoughts Rene? You are an expert in studying magic and aura?” She just claps.

“Better than even I could have explained it I’m a terrible teacher.” Rene smiles.

Mrs. Nyn walks over to stand next to me. “Do you understand better now?”

I nod. “Yes, can we spar now?”

“We were never.” I still have a class to teach and Venus wants you to head over there after your lesson and so off with you.” She pushes me and smirks.

“Thank you for the lesson.” I bow to her and she pats my head..

“You are special Emelia I notice it. Alva does, and so does the queen. Just keep training and you’ll get stronger.”

The two of us walk in silence as we head back to Venus’s home, just taking in the sights of the Sylphans going about their normal everyday lives.

“We need to make sure they all survive,” I say, and Rene turns to me and agrees.

“Em, we are going to. We have Venus and Alva here with us. There is zero chance we can lose, I promise.” Rene smiles, filling me with something I haven’t felt since I woke up in that cell.

Hope.

The two guards on each side of the door wave us in as we reach Venus’s home. Inside, it’s jam-packed. Many Sylphans are holding supplies and weapons, rushing in and out of rooms and out of backdoors. Venus sits floating in the middle of the room, energy coursing through her body and through the room. Rene and I approach slowly, then she drops to her feet and smiles at us as she opens her eyes.

“Well, glad to see Noryn had fun teaching you.” Venus claps her hands, and the sound rings out loudly in the building.

“Everyone out of the hall. Please give Emelia and me a few moments with each other.” Without a word of complaint, the hall clears, leaving Rene, myself, and Venus in the empty hall.

Venus looks at Rene. Rene looks back at her, making direct eye contact.

“Baah! Fine, but don’t be mean to her, Venus.” Rene puts a hand on my shoulder and then walks to the door.

“Oh, my dear Rene, don’t go too far when Emeila and I are done. Come visit me. I have something for you and I know you’ll want.” Venus says with a severe look on her face.

Rene turns to look back at her. “You’re serious.”

I have not seen such a serious expression on Rene ever. Rene has never had such a serious expression before, with her eyes hard, narrowed, and glazed over.

Venus nods smirking, and Rene turns and leaves, leaving just me and Venus. I turn to look at the Queen, and she smiles.

“Emelia, do you like tea?” she asks, walking over to a table with a tea set and a silver kettle.

“Yes, Janet, my caretaker, used to make it all the time with some herbs she would grow in her little garden.”

Venus pours two cups of tea and waves me to sit with her. I sit across from her, and she hands me the cup of tea. It smells fruity, like berries. Venus takes a sip of hers, and I follow suit, blowing on mine a bit, and take a small sip. The sweetness of the tea hits my tongue first. The sweetness isn’t overpowering, as the bitterness gives it a mellow taste.

“This is amazing,” I say, taking another sip.

Venus smiles. “It is from the Vernian Forest a few hundred kilometers west of this mountain. Fruits, nuts, and berries thrive in the forest, which, as you can tell, is what this tea is made from.

“What berries?” I ask, taking a longer sip.

“They’re called Kelsin Berries that grow on this wonderful plant called a Kelsin trim. It has an interesting defense mechanism.” This piques my interest.

“What is the defense it has?” I ask, forgetting about the tea.

“It is a small plant with plentiful bright red berries that grow on its stems. One plant could feed you for a month. The wonderful part about it is that it has no thorns, poison, neurotoxins, nothing that would hurt or injure the predator trying to steal its wonderful berries.” Venus pauses and takes another sip of her tea.

“And?” I am so curious to learn what it does.

“It doesn’t injure its predators. It kills them instantly with an interesting substance on the berries skin that, if ingested immediately off the stem, will make the host who ate it kill themselves.” Venus seems to have finished her tea because she pushes her cup aside and smiles at me.

“Why do I bring this up, Emelia?” She asks me.

“Bring up the plant?” I ask her.

“Yes, why would I clear out the room and sit you down to talk about a plant?” She raises an eyebrow and then pours another cup of tea.

I shake my head, confused. “I don’t know why?” I ask, and her smile drops.

“It’s because, Emelia, this plant reminds me of you.” She says, a cold look on her strong face, eyebrows knit together like a dancing couple.

“Me? What do you mean by that?” I ask.

Venus arches an eyebrow. “You truly don’t know what I mean?”

I shake my head.

Venus sighs. “You are an enigma, Emelia, just like this plant that can take over your mind and make you take your own life. It’s like you, Emelia. You’re a small girl with more power than she should realistically have.”

I nod." yes, you told me this during our last conversation."

She takes a long sip of the tea.

“Do you have weird dreams, Emelia?” Venus takes a sip.

“Excuse me?” I ask, confused.

“Do you have weird dreams?” Again, she asks.

“Sure, don’t we all?” I need clarification on where this is all going.

Venus sets down her cup. “I am not sure about this, Emelia, but your future is to destroy the world. I am curious if you know why?” Venus says, her gaze weighing heavily on me.

“No, I don’t. I want to save it, not destroy it.” I genuinely believe that.

“I honestly don’t believe that. I peeked at your soul when I sensed your magic when you arrived. Do you want to know what I saw? I also sensed a nasty presence in your home the other night,” Venus states.

I wait for her to answer as I shake my head.

Venus pours more tea for herself. She smells the tea, takes a sip and a second one, then sets the cup down.

“Your soul is black, Emelia, as black as the mountains of Cain.” Venus’s eyes glow.

“What? My aura is white, not black.” My soul is not black. I refuse to believe that.

“Very true, except it was not your soul I saw. Was it Emelia?” She asks.

My mind goes wild and threatens to burn up because of how many thoughts bounce around in it. “What does that mean?” I ask, scared of the answer, because I know what she means, but I can’t answer her.

“You have two souls, Emelia, your soul, which is the dominant one. A second soul slumbers inside you, but it seems to be slowly inching its way through yours. You white soul has black cracks in it.

I thought I would fall over and scream she was wrong, be terrified, but I’m not. Janet always told me I differed from everyone, a wizard who could one day take the world by storm. So, she would not let me leave her supervision because I couldn’t control my powers when my emotions ran high.

“You don’t seem surprised about that,” Venus says.

I sigh and shake my head. “I’m not, because I think I have always known I was different. Back when I was younger, I would have breakdowns when my emotions would run wild. Then these.” I pause, remembering that day when my emotions took over, and I lost myself.

“These what, Emelia?” Venus ushers me to go on.

“Back when I was nine or ten, I lost control of my powers in the Myzra town square, a small town far from Bladesfall. I don’t remember what happened, just that when I woke up, I was on Janet’s lap, and-and she was.” I pause to wipe the tears stinging my eyes.

“Go on, Emelia, you're safe here,” Venus says.

I take a breath in. “Blood covered her. She held me with one arm and sang to me gently.”

Tears well up again, and this time, break through and slide slowly down my cheeks.

Venus gets up, moves the table out, and slides her chair to sit by me.

“What did Janet say when you woke up?” Venus asks as she takes my hand in her much larger ones.

“She smiled and said welcome back, you reckless child. I asked her what happened, and all she said to me was. You did this, Emelia. She uses her good arm to sit me up between her legs and wraps the arm in a comforting gesture around and pulls me close.”

“What did you see then?” Venus asks.

“The entire town leveled thousands of bodies of people dead and dismembered. Women, children, men, nobody was spared. All the buildings collapsed, scorch marks all over craters in the ground.” I sniff and wipe my eyes.

“I see, and what else?” she asks again, squeezing my hands tighter.

There was a black fog all around the city. It was hard to see. This sticky black slime was also all over people, the ground, and buildings. It was everywhere."

Venus sighs." Did Janet explain how you did this?"

I shake my head. “No, she just took my hand and walked us to the militia that was there to see what had happened.”

“Thank you, Emelia. That sounded like a tough moment to go through.” Venus smiles, and I stare into her jade eyes and notice that the golden flecks have formed into a small circle around her pupils, bringing me some comfort.

“I promise you, Emelia, when we save my people, If I survive I will help you change your Fate. If I can, you will have a Titan at your back.” She smiles brightly, showing her perfectly straight teeth.

“Thank you, Venus, really.”

When Venus smiles, it reminds me of Janet and the comfort she would bring me whenever I saw her smile.

I stand up and go out the door with a pit of hot bubbling fury in my stomach. Waiting for the day I get to see an Ember because I will kill them.

But first I need to go home and rest. I’m exhausted.

“Before you go, Emelia, do me a favor.” She stares me in the eye.

“Sure, what’s up?” I ask her.

“If something goes wrong and we fail. In the Vault across town there is a door in there sealed up with a spell I made.” Venus reaches into a pouch at her hip.

“This charm will lift the spell, press it to the runes on the door and take what’s inside, please.” Her eyes look softer, almost pleading me to listen to her.

“Sure, what is in there?” I ask her.

Venus doesn’t break eye contact with me. “The future of my people.”