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.

Emerson adjusted the small woven basket on her back. She held a sharp stick, poking through the damp underbrush of the high forest overlooking their town.

Jaden trailed three steps behind her. He was sucking loudly on a cherry lollipop, carrying a smaller basket entirely filled with crackers and cheese.

"Emmy, why are we out here?" Jaden whined, swatting at a mosquito. "The candy shop in town has a sale today."

"Because Mom's old scar hurts when it rains," Emerson said, her eyes scanning the roots of a massive pine. "I need Moon-grass to synthesize a painkiller."

Before Jaden could complain again, the sky tore open.

A deafening sonic boom rattled Emerson's teeth. The ground vibrated.

Both children snapped their heads up. Tearing through the low clouds was a massive, armored Aether-skiff. Thick black smoke billowed from its engines. The side hull had been blown wide open by heavy artillery, blue electricity sparking wildly from the exposed wires.

Jaden dropped his lollipop in the dirt. "Whoa. Big metal bird."

Emerson grabbed the collar of his shirt and dragged him violently behind a massive boulder. "Shut up. Suppress your mana signature. Now."

The skiff clipped the tops of the pine trees, snapping trunks like twigs. It slammed into the earth two hundred yards away, carving a deep trench of destroyed earth before grinding to a halt.

The shockwave blasted dirt and splinters into the air. Emerson threw up a localized wind barrier, deflecting the shrapnel away from their faces.

Through the settling dust, the skiff's mangled door was kicked open.

A young man crawled out. His expensive silk robes were shredded and soaked in blood. He clutched a reinforced metal briefcase to his chest.

A second man, built like a brick wall but missing his left arm below the elbow, dragged himself out after him.

The bodyguard spat a mouthful of blood onto the grass. "Master Cade, run. The Rogue Warlocks are right behind us."

Cade looked around wildly, his chest heaving. "The communication array is slag. We have nowhere to run, Forrest."

Behind the boulder, Emerson watched with cold detachment. She had no intention of getting involved in a gang war.

Then, the sunlight caught the emblem embroidered on Cade's ruined chest piece.

Two crossed swords, hovering beneath three stars.

Emerson's perfect memory retrieved the data instantly. It was the exact same crest carved into the Storage Ring Kamala kept hidden in her drawer.

The Conrad Dynasty.

Mom's family, Emerson realized. Her eyes narrowed.

High above, five sharp shrieks pierced the air. Five figures riding dark shadow-brooms descended rapidly, surrounding the crash site. They wore bone-white skull masks.

The leader, radiating Master-tier magic, laughed. It sounded like grinding glass. "Run, little Conrad. Run like the dog you are."

Cade gritted his teeth. He pulled a snapped wand from his belt, his hand shaking, preparing to die fighting.

Jaden tugged on Emerson's sleeve. "Emmy, those mask guys are ugly. Can we go home now?"

Emerson let out a slow breath. She unbuckled her foraging basket and set it on the ground.

"No," Emerson said. "That man might be my uncle."

She stepped out from behind the boulder, her blue eyes turning icy. "And they interrupted my foraging."