Chapter 1

  “I knew you’d be here soon…Mitalia Allarose…”

  There was a woman sitting on the floor of a dark alleyway, blood flowing from a giant gash in her stomach. She would have been beautiful if not for the burn marks covering her plaid features, and though it was clear that without healing magic, she would be dead in minutes, she had a relieved smile on her face, as if she’d been saved despite the seven-year-old girl’s utter lack of magical knowledge. The child, whose name this woman somehow knew, wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do.

  That morning, she’d gone out with her mother and little sister to the local farmer’s market, a beloved tradition of theirs despite their wealthy status enabling them to have servants shop for their food. While they were down there, explosions sounded throughout the city, though they couldn’t see what caused them. There were shouts that a mage battle had begun, and as the crowds panicked and ran, Mitalia was separated from her family. She was too young to know her way back to the palace, so she ran aimlessly until the explosions stopped, and not long after they did, she rounded a corner, bolted into this alleyway, and came face-to-face with this dying woman.

  “Um…” she stammered, taking a few nervous steps backwards. “A healer… I’ll go get a—!”

  “No, it’s okay… This is for the best…” The woman smiled pleasantly before extending a weak arm towards Mitalia, beckoning her over. “Come here, child… Please…”

  The little girl hesitated, recalling her mother’s insistence that she never speak to strangers, especially when they were out in the city. However, she didn’t get the feeling that this woman was a threat to her, and her concern for her safety resulted in the child placing one foot in front of the other as she cautiously closed the small distance between them.

  “C-could you not…heal yourself?” she inquired nervously, recalling how some of the grown-ups in the castle learned a little healing magic for emergencies even if nature wasn’t their primary affinity. It was meant for times like these, when one was dying without a nature mage around, but Mitalia’s hopes were dashed when the woman slowly shook her head.

  “I’ve…used too much…mana…and I need…the rest…for something else…”

  Mitalia frowned. “You do? For what?”

  “Listen, sweetheart… I’m so sorry for this…” The light in the woman’s eyes was fading fast, with the child’s earlier estimation of minutes becoming what must have been seconds of life left in her. “I wouldn’t…wish this curse…upon another… But it can also…be a blessing… I have foreseen…what you shall do with it… I knew…you’d be here… I know…you’re the one…who will protect it… They cannot be allowed…to have it… So it must…be hidden…for it can…unravel…everything…”

  A shiver went down Mitalia’s spine despite not really understanding what she was rambling about, as if she could sense the danger she was describing in her voice alone.

  “But—”

  “Take my hand…”

  The child’s eyes shifted towards the still raised palm of the dying woman, and since it seemed like this person was desperate for her to do such a simple action, Mitalia tenderly reached out her small hand and grasped the woman’s.

  The next thing she knew, she was laying on the ground, staring up at the bright blue sky above. Mitalia had little idea what happened, but she heard the sound of rapid footsteps rushing in her direction, and when she raised her head to gaze towards the mouth of the alleyway, she found one of her uncles stalking towards her with a handful of his men behind him.

  “Tali!” he exclaimed with intense relief as he knelt down beside her. “Are you okay?! We’ve been looking everywhere for you! Are you hurt? Why are you on the ground?!”

  She furrowed her brow, sparing a brief look over her shoulder as if searching for something, but she didn’t really know what she expected to find behind her. The alleyway was empty other than her and the soldiers, so she turned her head back to her uncle and tried to reassure the panicked man.

  “I’m okay, Uncle Barron,” she said with a nod. “We heard loud noises, and then I got separated from Mother, and then…” Mitalia paused, futilely trying to recall what came next. “I dunno… I don’t really remember, but I feel fine!”

  This clearly didn’t comfort him, and as Barron made his own survey of the alleyway, he ordered his men to escort Mitalia back to the castle while he remained in the city to find the perpetrators of the battle. The little girl obeyed, went back home where she was reunited with her worried parents and little sister, then was sent to the infirmary to be checked on by the head healer. The gaps in her memory concerned them, but every check they did resulted in a healthy report, and eventually, they decided that she must have passed out due to stress or fear, though Mitalia suspected they never fully believed that. Afterwards, she never really thought about that day again, and certainly failed to link it to the sudden strange events that began to take place in her life.

  Every once in a while, when she would touch somebody, she would see a vision.

  She saw her nanny getting attacked by one of the stray cats that wandered the palace halls.

  She witnessed the surprise arrival of her grandmother, who no longer visited as often as she used to.

  She enjoyed the vision of her uncle being promoted to Battlemaster due to his amazing talent with wind magic and the arts of the Korrei-Tarr.

  Mitalia tried to tell the others that she was being blessed with visions of the future, but they did not believe her.

  “Father, I’m not just playing! Vice Captain Irridar is going to start a fight at the Maidsong Tavern tonight! You gotta stop him or else you’ll have to take his job away!” she insisted, but the man just shook his head and laughed.

  “Yes, yes, Tali. I’m sure he is…”

  “He will though!”

  “Alright, that’s enough… Go and play with Serri, why don’t you? I’m quite busy right now…”

  Mitalia huffed and decided her father was just a big meanie. She knew what she saw, and was quite smug when a report was rushed in that Irridar did, in fact, start a massive brawl in one of his favorite taverns that resulted in a rather fierce demotion from her father. But even so, he decided that she must have gotten lucky, or else heard Irridar talking about how he wanted to fight somebody. The man refused to believe that she could see the future, which only annoyed her even more. She was beyond elated that there was one person in her family who took her seriously.

  “Tali, how did you know about that incident with Irridar?”

  “I already told you, Uncle Barron! I saw the future when I touched him! I ran up and grabbed his leg, then saw him fighting a bunch of mean-looking guys at a tavern! Then I guessed it had to be that day cause I heard him saying he was going out to drink!”

  “Curious…” Barron muttered as he stroked his beard with interest. “Listen to me, Sweetie… If you have another vision, let me know as soon as you can. Will you promise that?”

  “Of course! I promise!”

  Hoping that her uncle wasn’t just saying that to appease her, Mitalia jumped at the chance to convince somebody to believe her, so after that, she told Barron every single vision she had, even down to minor ones like the few that just included what they were having for dinner. Every time they came true, her uncle would smile with joy and say,

  “You are special, Tali… Very special…”

  Mitalia would beam back at him, hoping that if Barron told her the rest of their family that she wasn’t a liar, then maybe they would start to listen to her. Unfortunately, this was not what happened, and while she didn’t see the argument in person, she witnessed it through a vision brought about via contact with her father.

  “Nonagan, you have to understand this! Your daughter has been chosen by the Goddess, Rei!” Barron was insisting. “Every single time she’s come to me with a vision, it has been accurate to a tee! This can’t possibly be by chance!”

  “Brother, please, do you not listen to yourself speak?” her father growled back. “I put up with your idiotic beliefs because I know it comforts you, but do not take it further than a personal part of your life. Tali’s a child…and children say silly things sometimes. Are you honestly suggesting that my daughter can see the future because she was blessed by a damned goddess?”

  Barron nodded firmly, refusing to buckle under her father’s harsh demeanor. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. It’s proof of Rei’s existence. Tali has been chosen by Her, so if we don’t nurture this ability, we will forever regret it! The Goddess is giving us a chance for glory!”

  “No, there is no Goddess, Barron. Enough of this. Bring it up again and I’ll have no choice but to demote you from your position. Understood?”

  Her uncle’s eyes widened in what was either horror or rage, but clearly not wanting to lose his job, he clamped his jaw shut and departed the room without another word. That was where the vision concluded, leaving Mitalia with the realization that she should also stop mentioning her foresight to her father. Therefore, for the next few months, she only told Barron of what she saw, refraining even from telling her little sister, Serri, since she feared her father might get mad at her for spreading what he believed were delusions to her sister.

  But in her heart, she never wavered in her belief that they were real.

  For reasons she couldn’t provide, she was blessed with the future.

  Then it became a curse that destroyed everything.

  She hugged Serri and saw her collapsed in an alleyway, her torso sliced open, her eyes blank and unseeing, and her features more mature than that of the eight-year-old she currently was. Mitalia panicked, terror overcoming her, and for the first time since gaining this blessing, she desperately wanted to prevent a vision from happening. She took that prediction as a warning—that the Goddess Rei or whatever entity that was responsible for her visions was trying to tell her to save Serri from such an unfair fate. Even if her father wouldn’t believe her, even if he accused her of being insane, Mitalia would scream and shout and claw her way to a future where her sister wouldn’t end up dead.

  She ran to Barron first, practically shrieking, “Uncle Barron, Serri’s gonna die! I need help! I need to save her!”

  Barron was on top of it instantly, reassuring her that they would do everything they could before asking when it would happen and who would kill her. Unfortunately, Mitalia knew it was further into the future, and there was no clue towards a killer within that vision. Barron was clearly unsettled by the lack of information, but he still marched straight to his elder brother's office to convince him to take every precaution imaginable.

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Her father made good on the threat, and Barron Allerose was demoted from Battlemaster. Mitalia felt awful, knowing that it was partially her fault that her favorite uncle was robbed of his status, but Barron constantly repeated that it was for the best. The problem was that her father took measures to prevent them from saving Serri, as if believing that any further humoring of these visions would only be for the worse. At one point, Barron and Mitalia tried to convince Serri to stay inside the castle walls and to never go out into the city, but they found out later that her father began to convince the little girl that the two of them had lost their minds, and that she shouldn’t be worried about getting killed. Serri started to resent Mitalia and kept her distance, preventing them from doing anything to protect her.

  The vision naturally came true.

  Mitalia found out after her sister died that she’d been lured away from their mother on a market trip and was murdered by a couple of thugs, who probably recognized her as being a part of a noble family and thought they could make some money by stealing her belongings.

  As predicted, she was discovered and the report returned to the castle that Serri Allerose was dead.

  “I told you, Father!” Mitalia had shrieked with more rage than she had ever felt in her life. “I tried to warn you over and over, but you wouldn’t listen and now Serri’s gone! Do you believe me now?! Do you still think I’ve lost my mind?! Huh, Father?! ANSWER ME!”

  “GET OUT OF MY FUCKING SIGHT, YOU LITTLE FREAK!”

  That was her father’s response, and no matter how much time passed, she never understood it. How could he be angry with her when she told him nothing but the truth? Should he not have apologized? Should he not have expressed how sorry he was for never taking her seriously? Instead, he banished her from the city, told her that he never wanted to see her again, and sent her to an old fortress belonging to the family deep in the mountains—a place called Ankalla. Barron went with her, promising to always protect her no matter what.

  Later on, Mitalia began to wonder if her father banished her out of shame. Perhaps he did feel some guilt for what he had done, and couldn’t bear to look her in the eyes after the way he treated her. He apparently committed suicide alongside her mother a year after Mitalia and Barron departed for Ankalla, leaving the city’s rule to his and Barron’s younger brother. She wondered if she would have gone back someday if not for his death, but now there truly wasn’t anything left for her in her family’s home. So instead, Mitalia Allerose spent a year in solitude at Ankalla, fuming and ruminating on what she could have done better.

  It was when she got a vision from touching Barron that things began to change.

  She was shown herself at the head of an organization called the Kosah-Rei, who had united under the banner of freeing the oppressed people of Ijiria from the iron-fisted rule of the Iijis and the Great Lords.

  At first, she wondered why she would ever need to turn against the elite. She didn’t hold any particular feelings towards them one way or the other, so it seemed silly to commit herself to a rebellion when she could live her life in peace.

  But then, she pondered it for a while, and realized that she could attempt to make up for what happened to Serri. She couldn’t save that innocent little girl, but maybe she could save others with her foresight. Those visions couldn’t change, that was a lesson she learned the hard way, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t capitalize on them to better the lives of other people. Why waste away in loneliness when she could instead dedicate her life to good? Why allow a power as unique and amazing as her visions to never again be put to use? Her uncle insisted it was a gift from the Goddess Rei, and while she never fully bought into the religious origin, she certainly couldn’t ignore the fact that it was a gift—one she refused to waste.

  However, if she was going to wage war against the elites alongside a bunch of people who hated them, then it would be dangerous to allow them to know she was one of them. Therefore, she shrouded herself in secrecy. She prevented her past from being known as she collected people and weapons for her war, even going so far as to conceal from them that she was related to Barron—that of the five who followed her, she favored one.

  And so, with her resolve steeled, Tali Firrik was born.

  ***

  “Come on, Mr. Kinrono! You gotta move faster! We don’t have time to waste!” Tali called over her shoulder, slyly observing the blonde man trudging along the rocky pathway behind her. “I know your legs are sore, but just bear with it! It can’t be that bad!”

  Velanor scowled, narrowing his eyes as he glared back at her. “You are far too chipper after everything we’ve been through today! The least you can do is pretend you’re distraught!”

  She shrugged casually. “I am distraught, but I’ll mourn them later when I’m not in the middle of the mountains. Right now, we need to keep moving and rendezvous with Leiolai—assuming she made it out of her encounter with Liri in one piece.”

  “And if Sartella’s dead like the rest of them?” Velanor retorted.

  “Then the plans don’t change.”

  She slowed to a stop, then waited for the man to close the rest of the gap between them, keeping her features firm and confident so that he wouldn’t sense the uncertainty roiling within her. Truth be told, the situation had taken a turn she was far from prepared for, so at the moment, she was simply trusting her visions and trusting her gut, just as she always did. When Velanor paused to catch his breath, he shot a glance over his shoulder for the millionth time, clearly checking if they were being followed, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out why.

  “He’s not going to track us,” she assured him.

  Velanor shook his head. “Yeah? You’re certain of that, Firrik? You’re honestly going to trust that little monster?”

  “I will, yes.”

  “And why?!” he practically roared, the anger and frustration that had boiled up that day getting closer and closer to a breaking point. “I still don’t understand what happened down there! One second, that shit was trying to kill you, and the next he’s letting us go? Why would he do that when he was so eager to slaughter us? What aren’t you telling me?”

  Tali let out an impatient sigh, having hoped Velanor would let the matter drop for a little while longer. “You have my word, I will tell you when I’ve figured it out myself. I honestly don’t fully understand what happened either. Okay? Can you trust that?”

  Naturally, he was suspicious, but there wasn’t much Tali could do to change that, so she decided there wasn’t a point in continuing to talk as she spun on her heel and continued onwards. The two of them were walking along a mountain path, with a rather steep incline to their right and a drop to their left, providing them with a magnificent view of the rocky plains and mountains that defined the region. And if one gazed out over the lands, they could just barely make out the Ijirian attack force gathered just outside of the fortress. Tali was watching them carefully, though she lacked the vision to see if Keskivaara was among them—something that clearly enraged Velanor, whom she lied to and told his husband could not die.

  But if I can find Leio, she’ll be more than enough to help take Kinrono down should we need to. For now, I need to keep pressing forward to our designated location.

  Therefore, as the trek continued, Tali’s mind briefly wandered back to her encounter with Seiras Ka in the dungeons beneath Ankalla. She wasn’t lying when she told Velanor she needed to process it, for even setting aside the conversation with Seiras in the aftermath, that vision was dense with information. Naturally, as with most visions she saw, there was not an obvious date for the event, but there were ways to deduce when it might be approaching. For one, Ryokumo Caeli and Iris Mackia were not Masters, so as long as Edwar Grunly and Koroha Rhitta still drew breath, it would not come to pass. There was a buffer period that could be decades or months depending on what was about to take place following the elimination of the Kosah-Rei. However, the confirmation of Mackia and Caeli’s rise to the Masters practically assured her that Ilirianna Iiji would soon be taking power.

  After all, there’s not a soul in this country that would elect Caeli to the position of Master of Wind except her. Therefore, Liri has to take Markreas’s place before Koroha and her apprentice meet their ends. Will Liri cause their deaths with the Teritus like I urged her to? Maybe. But regardless, they will die. In regards to Grunly, that’s not a big deal… He’s probably on his way out anyway, so I’d bet money that Mackia is joining their ranks before Caeli does.

  Tali twisted her lips in thought. Next, there was that strange thing Seiras said about Prince Reigious considering him valuable… Why Reigious? Shouldn’t he say Liri? And if something befell her, then Piura…right? Am I forgetting which sibling is older? No, even if I was, it’s still weird that he didn’t talk about Ilirianna, and that’s something I need to be cautious of. Prince Reigious might become a threat to our rebellion…but if he’s alive in that vision, I can’t kill him… I’ll have to work around that somehow…

  Having somewhat processed those two details, the Voice of Rei then turned her thoughts towards the last, most prominent one. In that vision, Seiras Ka was murdered. An unknown assassin that not even I could identify swooped down, struck his heart with an arrow, and killed him. With everybody suffering the effects of Aniextium, nobody could heal him, and he died. The question is, who killed him and why? It was obvious that the Masters didn’t particularly like him, and that spell seemed overly powerful, so I’d hazard a guess that he was killed to remove it from existence. Somebody wanted Aniextium gone, but who?

  She pondered it being another Master, since three of them were not present at that time. The Masters of Darkness, Light, and Fire were elsewhere, meaning she had no idea who held those positions at the time of Seiras’s death. Koroha and Toranei being dead increased the likelihood that Nakoma was dead, too, but she didn’t want to assume that. She also doubted Nigreos and Album were gone, so the safer assumption might be that all three current Masters still held their positions in that time.

  So where were they? It seemed Seiras wanted to chat with the Masters, so why leave out the other three? Was he not interested in them? Or were they away from the Citadel?

  She hated how much uncertainty that vision left her with even considering all of the information it provided. Tali sighed, reaching into the small pocket of her dress and producing a little gold coin that she’d been given before hurrying from the tunnels. There was a brain engraved into it, the symbol of the Master of the Mind.

  “Show this to the guards at Erika’s gates and you’ll be admitted into the city without question.”

  She returned the badge to the pocket, musing, Then there’s all of that to consider…

  It was then that Tali heard a soft buzzing sound up above, and as she raised her head, she found a little hummingbird hovering a few feet in front of her face. The Voice came to an abrupt stop, a broad smile turning her lips as she gently raised her finger outwards so that the bird could perch atop it. Velanor, too, slowed his pace, his eyes widening as he noticed the little creature.

  “Sartella?” he uttered, to which Tali nodded.

  “Glad to see you’re alive, Leio. I knew you’d make out. Anything to report?”

  The bird chirped before she left Tali’s finger and flew towards a spot a few feet away. It was then that its small body suddenly surged with magic, its form expanding and shifting as its wings turned to arms, its feet extended and morphed into human limbs, and its head twisted into the features of Tali’s best friend. The changeling simultaneously sent nature magic into the ground below her, enabling thin vines to curl out of the dirt and wrap around her naked form, interweaving into a loose dress that covered herself. Leiolai was smiling as she regarded Tali, though she did shoot a curious glance at Velanor before eyeing Tali for an explanation. The Voice made a face that hopefully indicated she needed news on a certain person, and having worked with her for as long as she had, Leiolai picked up on it quickly.

  “Glad to see you two made it,” she said. “I did a flyby of the attack force and observed from the sky for a little while. Barron, Quill, and Vesh are all dead, and I personally witnessed Album Luz send Uma to the erased realm. As of right now, Tali, you and I are all that remains of the Kosah-Rei.”

  Ah, so they did get Vesh… And while I’m sure he wouldn’t consider this a good thing, I take some comfort in the thought that Uma isn’t dead…not that the erased realm will ever open for him again…

  “And Riko?!” Velanor pressed frantically, taking a rather threatening step towards Leiolai that the woman clearly didn’t appreciate.

  The changeling shrugged with bafflement. “Honestly, for some reason I couldn’t even begin to try and guess, they’ve taken him alive. Markreas returned from the castle with his body thrown over his shoulder then dumped him onto the ground.”

  Well, that’s convenient… This means I can keep Velanor under my thumb for a little while longer…

  “They…have?” the man uttered, understanding suddenly dawning on his face. “No, I see… Markreas wants a public execution. He doesn't just intend to kill Riko, he wants the people to watch him be punished… That vile son of a bitch…”

  Tali smiled smugly, then chirped, “I guess we’ll just have to break him free then!”

  “We will?” Leiolai muttered. “H-how? It’s not like we can infiltrate the attack force. Ilirianna probably knows I lived, so they’re not gonna let a soul near Keskivaara without thorough checks for biological magic.”

  “Well, that’s why we’re not gonna sneak into the attack force,” Tali clarified. “You see, Leio, there’s a few things I need to fill you in on, but…” The Voice of Rei turned her head to gaze into the distance at the Ijirians with a mixed sense of apprehension and excitement. “We’re going to follow them back to Erika, and we’re going to have some fun in the Ijirian capital.”