Opening

 
The Call
Balshown and Makish are quiet as we prepare for our journey to the city.
Like me, they are full of their own thoughts.

We are outsiders, powerful energy masters full of a hunger to shape the future.
Our hunger and strength set us apart from other Jiku, even the guilds, and bind us together.

Sometimes they treat me as a friend, and sometimes they treat me as a child.
Each of them is possessive and protective of me, and wary of the other.

My thoughts are broken by the urgency of the moment.
Now is a good … Read more

The Necklace and the Wizard

 
Hiding from the Energy Web
Keela and I land on a high hill, its sides covered in blue and yellow wildflowers.
A few small houses cover the top of the hill, surrounded by a high wall.

The houses and the wall are decorated with the royal symbol, in dark blue and gold.

“This is the royal camp,” she says.

“Camp?”

She sighs.
“That’s what it’s always been called.”
“Our ancestors came to this area as an army, after a war, and the surviving leaders camped here.”
“In many ways we are still an army.”

There are guards everywhere.
Heavily … Read more