Chapter 7

Three years later.

The afternoon sun beat down on the grassy backyard of a small, secluded farmhouse.

Three-year-old Emerson sat in a tiny wooden chair, wearing denim overalls and a pair of thick, non-prescription glasses she had stolen from the town market. Resting on her knees was a massive, leather-bound tome titled Ancient Aetheric Wards. She had cast a simple illusion over the cover so Kamala only saw Grimm's Fairy Tales.

Ten feet away, three-year-old Jaden was on his hands and knees. He was staring intensely at a plate on the patio table. It held the last chocolate donut.

Emerson didn't look up from her book. "Jaden, that donut is the reward for finishing your training. If you dare steal it, I will make sure you don't get any snacks for an entire week."

Jaden froze. He looked over his shoulder, his big cheeks pouting. "Emmy, I'm starving. I'm a growing boy."

"You fell asleep during basic mana sensing yesterday," Emerson stated coldly, turning a heavy parchment page. "You are growing fat, not your Mana Core."

She slammed the book shut. "Traditional education is failing you. Rook, get to work."

The shadow beneath Emerson's chair violently twisted. A bird the size of a man's hand, wreathed in black, smokeless fire, shot out of the darkness.

It was Rook. Emerson had spent the last three years meticulously hoarding every spare drop of her soul energy, slowly injecting it into her own shadow to finally awaken the weakest, most microscopic fragment of her past-life companion.

Rook let out a sound like grinding metal. Its glowing red eyes locked onto Jaden's chubby rear end.

Jaden screamed. He scrambled to his feet and bolted for the wooden gate at the edge of the yard.

Smack.

Jaden slammed face-first into an invisible wall of solid air and bounced back onto the grass.

Emerson pushed her glasses up her nose. "I set a Level-2 Lockdown Ward over the perimeter."

She pointed a tiny finger up at the branches of the oak tree. A glowing blue sphere hovered ten feet in the air. "The only way to drop the ward is to channel your magic to the soles of your feet and Levitate up there to touch the anchor."

"Otherwise," Emerson added, her voice deadpan, "Rook is going to peck you until you bleed."

She snapped her fingers.

Rook dove like a black missile, its beak striking Jaden right on the backside.

"Ow! Mom! Help! Emmy is trying to kill me!" Jaden shrieked, running in frantic circles around the yard.

The kitchen window slid open. Kamala poked her head out, wiping flour off her hands. "Emmy, don't play too rough with your brother!"

Emerson flashed a bright, innocent smile. "Okay, Mommy! We're just playing tag!"

Kamala smiled and closed the window.

Emerson's face instantly dropped back into a cold stare. She looked at the bird. "Faster."

Rook became a blur. It cornered Jaden against the invisible barrier.

Absolute panic flooded Jaden's system. The primal fear of pain triggered the dormant Void magic buried in his chest.

His irises flashed a deep, violent purple. The air pressure in the yard suddenly dropped, making Emerson's ears pop.

Jaden let out a frustrated roar. A blast of kinetic force erupted from the bottom of his sneakers.

His chubby body shot straight up into the air, defying gravity. He flailed his arms wildly, spinning out of control, but his hand slapped against the glowing blue anchor in the tree.

Pop.

The invisible dome shattered.

Jaden's magic cut out instantly. He plummeted toward the grass.

Emerson flicked her wrist. A cushion of dense air caught Jaden two feet off the ground and deposited him gently onto his back.

Jaden lay there, staring at the sky, gasping for air with tears in his eyes.

Emerson walked over. She shoved the chocolate donut into his mouth.

"Good job," she said. "Tomorrow, we learn fireballs."

Jaden's eyes rolled back in his head, and he passed out cold.