Zephyr’s smile was filled with satisfaction as she jumped into action. She turned to the dark-skinned man first. “Raquim, you and Brax focus on search and rescue as I work on dousing what I can.” She cocked her arm and threw the glass jar of storm magic against the building in front of them. Wind and rain surged in every direction, whipping at their clothes and hair. Zephyr gave a shout of triumph. But before she focused on her magic, her gaze trailed to Taven. “I suppose you will be reporting for duty.”

He nodded, his eyes straying first to the tempest still fighting overhead, then to Aurora. He hesitated.

Zephyr did not, setting out at a run toward the city center, where the blaze loomed the largest.

Selfishly, Aurora wanted to keep Taven here to tell her everything she needed to know. But she knew he was needed elsewhere.

“Go,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

His eyes were torn. She knew his sense of duty was telling him to stay with her.

“Will you meet me here tomorrow at first light?” he asked.

She nodded. “I will. I promise.”

He waited another beat, staring at her as if she still might be a dream, then he turned sharply and began to run.

“Wait!” she called, sprinting after him.

He slowed, but did not stop. “I’ve already been missing too long. My unit is likely searching for me. If any of them survived. But if you want me to stay, you only need to ask, Your Highness.”

“Please don’t call me that.” He slowed to a walk, and she avoided his serious gaze by looking at the palace instead. It was hard to see between the smoke and the rain, but she could see the shape of the large golden dome. “I’ll let you go, but first, please, what of my mother?”

Taven stiffened, and his long strides stopped abruptly. Horror knifed through Aurora’s middle. “Is she—did they…”

He gave a sharp shake of his head. “She’s very ill. But she lives. Though she does not believe the same is true of you.”

It is thought that the first magic users were given gifts not unlike the gods themselves. They had the magic from which all the world had been created and with which all the world could be destroyed.

—An Examination of the Original Magics

6

Thirteen Years Earlier