I walk out of the public library to see three armed Officials surveilling the front entrance. They’re standing on high alert, cautiously monitoring the townsbeings walking by. Generations of families here in Drinn are dying as the magic on Raia continues to dwindle. Ailments that were once healed by Raian magic are now untreatable, forcing young and otherwise healthy beings to die of a simple seasonal virus. While the magic on our planet has been dwindling for hundreds of years now, it has decreased greatly over the last four. No Being knows why, at least not that I know of, but the Administration occupying our lands and mining the Ranges for who-knows-what, certainly seems related.

Raia has four habitable regions, two in the east and two in the West. Everyone else is either wastelands or prison camps. Drinn lies in the Western region of Ephyria, known for the vast mountain ranges and dense fog that hovers above the peaks. The Tytra Range is the closest to Drinn and is considered the most regal in all of Ephyria. The kaleidoscope of colors reflecting off the Gneiss during sunrise will bring you to tears, fog hovering above as if the peaks are telling you a secret. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. It’s also the only beauty I’ve ever known.

Legends say a Female dominated species called the Valerians once dwelled these lands. They were powerful Beings who used their Magic to sustain life and heal the people on Raia. Ephyria was their native home and the mountains cast their magic here and to the lands beyond. There is no evidence to support this in any of our literature and no sense of what happened to the Valerians, but they’re certainly not here anymore. In fact there is no evidence of life here at all before the Administration took over Raia 500 years ago. I guess they believe the magic just spun out of thin air. The lore of the Valerians has been passed down through generations of women in my family, my Grandmother being the greatest story-teller of them all. She used to rock me to sleep with the Valerian spirit running deep in her bones, and whispered tales of the fog that hovers above the Ranges. How it’s actually remnants of Valerian magic waiting to be wielded again.

My cottage stands 10 Kilometers east of the Tytra range in the heart of Drinn. My town has experienced more death and famine over the past four years than I can even comprehend, and it’s only getting worse. The infirmaries are completely full with no Magic to assist, ultimately leaving Beings to die on the streets. The Administration started their occupation four years ago with the promise of improving the circumstances here, yet the minute they arrived the little resources we did have left were sucked dry, and death worsened. I provide support anywhere I can, giving out my healing minerals to friends and neighbors who need it. But it’s never enough.

There’s a small grassy nook behind my cottage that provides the best view of the Ranges that Mother Nature has to offer. During my hardest moments I will sit on that grassy nook and just… disappear. It’s my own meditative practice, I guess. I close my eyes and breathe in the scents of pine and mist around me. Letting it wash over me until I feel nothing. Until the desolation that surrounds my grassy nook is gone.

It was exactly one year ago today on my twenty-fifth birthday, when I sat on that very nook at dawn and hoped to close my eyes for good. The death of my Mother was as poignant in my mind as the words she whispered during her final breaths. As I sit on my nook and replay those words, I close my eyes and embrace the stillness. Letting it guide me, willing it to swallow me whole. I sit there for what feels like hours and just, wait. During those moments I finally feel myself escape to somewhere else completely, a place where there’s warmth and laughter in abundance. Where my people are healed and the Administration ceases to exist. I slowly open my eyes and pray to the One that I’m on the other side, but instead I witness the most extraordinary phenomena that I’ve ever seen in the Ranges beyond. It was so breathtaking I thought I was dreaming, but my bones knew the truth. Felt it. The fog covering the peaks danced, swaying to the symphony of the mountains below. I saw the fog beam beyond the depths of my own understanding. I saw Valerian Magic.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

~

As I continue my brave voyage far, far away from the armed Officials, I grasp my books tightly and jog to the nearby bakery down the street. I’m meeting Mei and Eve and they’re always late, so I know I’ll be the first one there. I pick up the pace because the air is piercing my cheeks and quite frankly, I’m freezing. The icicles sewn into the branches should be melting by now, but they adhere so tightly that the ice and branch have become one. The cold is here to stay. Hooray. I step into the bakery and am immediately consumed by the heat being emitted from the small fireplace on the left. Local Beings gather around to soak in the very little heat left in this town, making themselves scarce. The shelf next to the register is basically empty with a couple of two-day-old pastries sitting idly. Even the pastries look hesitant, I wonder why. I look at the Officials taking up two of the four tables here and realize their trays are filled with decadent spreads that look so, so delicious. That’s why. Of course.

A family of four walk in behind me and the near-empty shelves stare at all of us. I look back and see the two adults make the silent decision to leave and try again tomorrow, mentally acknowledging the Officials sitting beside them. As they turn around to leave, I quickly step out of line and offer them my spot. I walk to the table closest to the door and set my books down, giving the Woman a polite smile as her two children, both boys, grab the last of the stale pastries. Her partner is quietly paying at the register. Weary. An Official approaches the fire and shoos off the Beings that are gathered there. As they leave, Mei and Eve walk in with the family of four breezing past them, and out the door.

“Scaring them off again, are we? Are they finally realizing you all don’t bathe?” Eve snarls as she looks directly at the Official hovering near the fire. She spots me by the door and struts toward my table. Mei quietly follows, taking note of the disdained look on the man’s face after hearing Eve’s comment. She elbows Eve and sits down at my table, desperately trying to avoid confrontation. “No loitering.” The Official sternly replies as he looms toward us, his eyes burning at Eve. A warning. His posse immediately smells the tension from across the room and rises from their chairs, ready to swarm us like a pack of wolves. Fuck. They all come together in unison like it’s some trained ritual and tower over our table. I don’t really have time to think but I know we’re in a bad situation. All three of us are frozen in time just waiting for this moment to pass, until Eve stands up on her ten toes and stares the men down. Hiding the terror behind her look of disgust. Mei and I dig our heels in our boots and stand with her, collectively accepting whatever fate this stand-off may bring as a trio. Just as the ringleader opens his mouth to spew his vitriol, he receives a call regarding an “urgent” matter that he must tend to. He nods to his brigade and they storm out without a blink. The Bakery employee and the couple at the remaining table are staring at the door, breathing shallowly. The three of us exhale and give each other a “what the fuck just happened?” look. Without skipping a beat, we sat back down and immediately burst out laughing. A nervous laugh that crescendos until we can hardly breathe. The room lightens around us and conversations resume. Happy Birthday to me.