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Misfits forge the most remarkable paths - my mama had told me that. “Better to be on the outside looking in, than on the inside looking out, Everest.”
The stars ruled this world, and the water constellations were above all others when it came to the land of Cascada, home of the Raincarvers who claimed dominion over the elemental power of water. Pisces, Scorpio and Cancer were the highest of celestial deities to my people, but the lower constellations were steeped in power too, all of them able to change the fates of worthy Fae – or curse them in the name of petty contempt.
At the age of twenty-one, every year, Fae were sent to Helle Fort to unleash that magic in them and to face assessment for their calling in life. There was no calling as esteemed as that of a warrior selected to train and fight for the army of Raincarvers who fought in the Endless War against the other nations. An army I was determined to qualify for.
Never Keep, the fortress where all great warriors learned to harness their element under the guiding hands of the star-chosen prophets known as the Reapers during six months of magic instruction.
Merrow – the very same Order my father happened to be and, of course, in his opinion, the greatest Order in existence. They were a ferocious breed; jagged, serrated blue scales coating their body like armour in their shifted form, remaining mostly Fae in appearance apart from the spines that ran the length of their backs and the sharp spikes that extended between the knuckles of their hands. In water, they could shift their legs into a tail and carve through waves faster than any other Order of the ocean, their throat producing gills that allowed them to breathe underwater too.
But there was a reason my true name had been forgotten. There was a reason they all called me by the title that was hissed in my wake and screamed upon my arrival. Sky Witch. And oh, what a witch I could be.
They call me the Sky Witch. Bloodborn Aquarius of the greatest nation of them all. My birth took place in the eye of a storm while battle raged around us and my mother’s screams were met with those of men dying in the fields of glory beyond. I am yearning. I am lust. I am the greatest desire of all who fall prey to my power, and I am lethal in more ways than can be counted. I am Fae. I am Air. I am master of blood and bone. My name holds no power because it is not what I am. My true name is War.
“Eské tamin, Koe morden mas ocil harbrin,” I gritted out in Cascalian. Fuck fate, I make my own tonight.
the twins of Gemini represented as glorious queens with wings that glimmered with golden light in a way which made them seem aflame.
“I’ll find you, Ever,” he swore,
but even when I’d gone through a phase of trying to fit in more, they’d simply found other reasons to taunt me. So I’d refused to cut out pieces of myself to please someone whose opinion I didn’t value anyway.
War of the four, divided and torn asunder. Flame, sky, rock and sea collide, While the stars bless the valiant souls of battle. Seek the void, for it shall guide the victor to their glorious path, A weapon of purity, and the gift of null. In a web of lies and cruelty, fate will favour the cresting wave of destiny, And a bountiful empire shall be reborn under one all-powerful rule, Garnering the fortune and favour of the almighty sky.
“What’s the matter, Cayde? Are you jealous?” I taunted. “That’s the funny thing,” he said, dragging me closer still so that I couldn’t see anything beyond the honeyed gold of his eyes. “Because I think I am.”
“You forge with fire that feeds on air, your metal comes from the belly of the earth, you cool your blade with the water of the ocean. You cannot forge without the four elements. You cannot breathe, you cannot roam, you cannot live without them all.”
War of the four, divided and torn asunder. Flame, sky, rock and sea collide, While the stars bless the valiant souls of battle. Seek the Void, for it shall guide the victor to their glorious path, A weapon of purity, and the gift of null. In a web of lies and cruelty, fate will favour the ruthless storm of destiny, And a bountiful empire shall be reborn under one all-powerful rule, Garnering the fortune and favour of the almighty sky.
“Blue means you, small dragon. I do hope you remember that. Yes, oh boy. I think he likes it.”
“But the more I watch you, the more I see it. You are precisely what I’ve been looking for, Vesper.”
War of the four, divided and torn asunder. Flame, sky, rock and sea collide, While the stars bless the valiant souls of heart and light. Seek the Void, for it shall guide the chosen ones to their glorious path, A weapon of purity, and the gift of null. In a web of lies and cruelty, fate will favour the peacemakers of destiny, And a bountiful empire shall be reborn under one united rule, Garnering the fortune and favour of the almighty sky.
the twin Gemini swords next. They were bronze short swords which I’d made as twins of each other, half a Gemini symbol etched onto each hilt, so when brought together, they made one image.
