Iannis sighed. “That is true. And I owe Annia a debt for her part in my rescue.” He stroked his chin for a moment, considering. “I have to meet with the local Chief Mage, but it makes sense to find Elnos first, and get a clearer picture of the situation. If he is staying in a local inn in a small town like that, he should be easy enough to find.”

“Great. So we’re leaving now, right?”

“Just as soon as you get your clothes on.”

12

The aerial view of Osero was impossibly beautiful. Pressing my nose against the glass window in the dirigible’s cabin, I stared out at the rolling hills and wide open valleys, covered in greenery as far as the eye could see. Lakes and rivers shimmered like liquid silver in the afternoon sunlight, and I imagined all sorts of creatures teeming in the vast wilderness spread before me.

“It’s not all forests,” Iannis commented from his seat across from mine. His violet eyes were fixed on the view outside the window as well. “Though it does seem that way from up above.”

“I know that,” I said, tracing a dirt road with my finger that was barely visible from this height. “We’ve seen some small towns already, and I imagine the capital will be much bigger.”

“Yes,” Iannis agreed, “though not as large as Solantha. I have been to Parabas—it is quite cosmopolitan for its size, and many foreign magic users have settled there. Homeschooling is quite popular, so some humans escape magical screening and end up under the tutelage of witches and other foreign magic practitioners. The local Mages Guild generally turns a blind eye, unless any of these humans get out of control and cause real damage.”

“And what happens then?” I asked, very interested given my own past.

“The human has their powers stripped, and the mentor faces imprisonment or hard labor in the mines.”

I winced. On the one hand, that didn’t seem very fair… but on the other hand, at least these humans had a chance to practice magic.

“I know that not all humans born with magic are automatically mages, but how do you know if they’re a mage or a witch or whatever?” I asked. “I’ve always been a little confused on that point.”

Iannis sighed, rubbing at his temple. “There are varying degrees of magical ability. Mages, witches, and sorcerers just practice their magic talent in different ways. Your friend Comenius, for example, could have been a mage of middling strength, had he not been raised as a hedge-witch, as could his lady friend, Elania. But there are others who only have a very small amount of magic, and that magic tends to manifest in a certain way. That is why you have healers and fortune tellers and the like—they can perform a specific kind of magic, but nothing else.”