Prologue

My form floats in the air, light as a feather. Discomfort nags at my senses.

Just moments ago, I crouched amongst the wreckage of my crumbling home.

There had been endless screams ricocheting through my skull, and in a futile attempt to dull the noise, I pressed one hand to my ear, but all it did was smear blood everywhere.

With my other hand, I cradled my child, his tiny puckered lips the source of the clamor. The hand that rocked him moved on its own.

I might have been attempting to soothe him, shivering from the cold, or foolishly moving to prove that I still had fight in me, that I would live...

Just before, I had dared to look back. My lover’s insides lay sprawled on the ground, red on white, blindingly stark. I may have vomited there, maybe on myself.

The acidic stench of sulfur nauseated me, my eyes watered and my senses dulled. Tears rushed up again, burning as they spilled over the gashes in my skin.

Moments before, the splattering shards had pierced my chest. But I couldn’t lie still. His tiny limbs were now soaked with my blood, his suffocating screams piercing my soul.

I close my eyes as exhaustion consumes me. His voice gradually drifts away, and then it turns eerily quiet. A soft nudge at my shoulder signals that I should move forward.

I resist, delaying the inevitable for as long as I can. I don’t know how long I remain there, motionless.

When I finally opened my eyes, my surroundings changed, and my hands became bare. No longer in my wrecked home, I drift in an unfamiliar terrain.

My form floats in the air, light as a feather. A discomfort nags at my senses. Endless trees surround me, shrouded in fog. A single, blinding ray of light pierces the darkness.

The apparitions around me urge me toward the river Lythe. Their voices slither through the night, merging into one: “Leave the mortal realm behind,” they whisper. “Drink from the river.”

“No.” The sound that escapes my throat feels foreign, detached. The pain is too raw, carving at my insides. “Not yet, please,” I beg. I pray. Perhaps, for once in my short, miserable life, someone, or something, will heed my call.

To my utter surprise, they do.

Squinting against the blaring light, my surroundings shift once more.

...ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ...

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, can you all just shut up?” To think that Ran De Ophelia woke up on the wrong side of the bed would be incorrect.

You see, it is said that Hyacinth City never sleeps, and perhaps to no one does this statement ring true, as much as it does for Ran. Young Miss Asma, the Ophelia manor maid sneaks out of the estate every night at midnight like clockwork. She does not venture far, however, for just behind the gate her young lover seeks her out with flowers and promises of a future that does not involve serving snobs.

Further beyond the gates, the farmers tending the Ophelia gardens, get a head start on their work, plowing the fields, or gathering by the trees with jugs of wine and snide remarks about their masters. Their laughter carried on the wind under a bright full moon.

They eventually tire and return to their cottages, a time during which Ran is allowed respite for an hour at most. Respite before the city beyond the wall awakes. Merchants set up their stalls in the bazaar, travelers dock by the shore, and Auntie Halima with her ever-shrill screech beckons Nahro out of bed, "Set up the wagon, boy," she yells. "Light up the fire, bring forth the dough, spread the thyme," order, upon order, as Nahro drags his feet and responds with a yawn.

The farmers' children get an early start, too, each with a different set of responsibilities. Little Jiujiu runs around the street with the latest gazettes. "Get Hyacinth Spills for 2 copper coins," he shouts wagging his arm as he flaunts the heavy papers. "News of Prince Anu of Scorpia's betrothal, Reesan soldiers captured at the border, Suburb Boys Found Dead," his voice carries through the streets. "Get your news for 2 coins only!"

Sounds from somewhere in the manor, rouse Ran from his city stupor. A boy scratches at something making a screeching sound that gets the hairs on Ran's arms standing. "Damned butterflies, make them go away, get them away from me," his voice echoes strained within the walls.

Ran tosses and turns, bringing his hands to his ears, and finally getting up. Sigh, he's not ready to start the first day of the semester.

Cursed with the gift of spectacular hearing, Ran never truly slept unless through a medically induced knockout. Which is almost every day, however, for the last month Nana had decided that he should learn how to tune and filter the sounds, cutting off his supply. Since then, the sound frequencies have jumbled together like static turning his brain into a foggy mush soup.

He wondered how anyone expected him to show signs of intelligence when he dealt with a constant overstimulation of his sensory receptors. It was already lucky he hadn’t severely damaged his head from banging it into a wall in a fit of frustration.

A thought he’d dwell on if he weren’t already late for the academy. He jumped up, detangling his bed head, then picked out the all-black school uniform, and sprinted to the transportation portal.

He made it just in time to see the rest of the kids already lined up in rows and columns in the courtyard, while the chief principal, Mostafa AzVard, headed the assembled students with his best authoritarian expression.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Ran sagged his shoulders. The consequences of tardiness, he could deal with. At least on school premises, the magic arrays kept curses at bay and heavily muffled his abilities. Another sneaky thought crept in but he did not dare to dwell on it; if the arrays counteracted his gift then was it truly a gift?

“Late as usual," Principal AzVard criticized. "Take your place with the rest of the slackers," he admonished before turning around to continue the morning announcements.

“Good morning to you too, sir,” Ran mumbled.

“Watch it, Ophelia,” AzVard warned with a raise of his eyebrow. Students began chattering amongst themselves recapturing AzVard's attention who puffed his chest ready to admonish the delinquents. Unable to stop himself from courting danger, Ran's loose tongue reclaimed the spotlight, “I do admit, I miss you too, sir."

The principal gave a smile that did not reach his eyes, with a raised pointing finger that promised retribution, he countered, "Marvelous, then you can look forward to spending detention with me."

Squinting his eyes to block his face from the sun, Ran was ready to cut his losses short and appease the principal when he noticed a rippling from the portal. He chuckled lightly to himself; with AzVard’s temper, whoever is arriving now is gonna get the worst of it.

Surprisingly, the unlucky face that shimmered through the portal was that of his twin sister.

The tardy students were lined against the courtyard wall, hands behind their backs. "Five points will be docked off your History finals," the words came out of AzVard's mouth accompanied by spit. Ran reckoned the man looked like a puffer fish, his belly bulging underneath the belt on his robes. AzVard's shifty eyes landed on Eva and his tone took a turn. "Everything alright, child? Anything the matter?"

"How come you check on her but not on us?" Another tardy student complained, and Ran snickered. "Apologies, sir. It won't happen again," Eva answered flatly. Seemingly satisfied, AzVard nodded his head and dismissed the slackers. Eva let out a shallow breath, then turned around and started speed-walking towards the auditorium without a second glance at her brother.

"So what happened?" Ran questioned following right behind her. Unfortunately, he couldn't hide the schadenfreude lacing his voice.

"Nothing happened, I overslept," Eva answered promptly.

However, that did not cease Ran's badgering. So he pressed on, "Nothing happened? You overslept?" He repeated her words dumbfounded. "Do you take me for a fool?"

"Yes," Eva replied. Swishing her hair with a flick of her head she turned her back on Ran, leaving him behind. And he had thought he was the one who woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.

Upon entering the classroom, Ran headed toward the row before last, squeezing himself between Reyes and Daveed, while Eva took her usual seat at the front. His group of bottom-of-the-class slackers greeted him with toothy grins. Huddling onto the raised platform with his gang of no-goods, the three exchanged quick pleasantries before scanning the room for a book to steal before the professor's arrival. The unwilling victim was a student sitting one row before them, who reluctantly relinquished his copy of Beasts of Scorpia.

The auditorium, like every other room in Hyacinth High, was a magnificent display of yellow bricks and power. A raised dais lay in the middle of the room, where the professor would stand and lecture. The first course of the day was "A History of Wild Beasts," instructed by Professor Gregory Tamraz.

Despite Ran arriving late, ten more minutes passed, yet the dais where the professor should have stood remained empty. Ran was starting to mindlessly doodle on his classmate's book when his friends started to gossip.

"Did your mom mention the last parent meeting?" Reyes asked, "I heard it was messy."

Daveed nodded, "She wouldn't tell me everything, but from what I gathered something was stolen from the school and there's an ongoing investigation."

Ran dropped his quill and joined in. "What did I miss?"

"Professor Scarlet is being replaced. There's someone new taking her spot this semester," Daveed explained.

"Is she hot?" Asked Ran lazily.

Daveed sighed exasperated, "We don't know if the replacement is a she, and anyway, I don't believe Professor Scarlet is a thief. It would be better if no one replaces her at all, and this mess gets sorted real quick," the scrawny boy would've continued ranting but the professor finally showed up.

Professor Gregory Tamraz was a stunning man. He had an androgynous look coupled with dreamy eyes that seemed to get dreamier by the day. After checking out his eyes, Ran noticed his breath. It was ragged as if he had trouble holding the air in his lungs. The professor had put up a veiled attempt to hide it, but it didn't do mu.

Professor Gregory did not shy away from throwing out generous smiles at the gathered class. After taking his position in the middle of the room, he directly started installing an ether projector that displayed a ginormous red dragon. Pointing at one of the students in the front row, he began his lecture, "What would you do if you saw such a beast standing in front of you?"

The student fidgeted but remained silent. Without waiting for an answer, Gregory flicked his wrist, and the projection of the dragon dived toward the girl. She shrieked loudly as it passed right through her and then hovered over the class.

Chatter erupted among the students, but a wave of his hand made them still. "This, my dear children, is a rare breed of the last Phoenix Dragons of Reesa. It is rumored a few more hide in the treacherous valleys of Salve, but aside from rumors and conjecture, there isn't much proof."

The longer Gregory spoke, the lower and more monotone his voice became. Some of the students in the back row were starting to doze off, and Ran would have been one of them, had he not been suddenly agitated. He pinched Reyes under the desk and whispered, "Do you think he's okay?" Reyes woke in a daze and looked up at Ran with sleepy eyes, "Who? Gregster?"

"Yeah, it feels like he's slowly fading."

"Me too, wake me up when the bell rings," Reyes said, ignoring the intensity in Ran's gaze and slumping right back to sleep.

Once the two-hour-long course finally ended, the sleepy students hurried out of the auditorium, eager for the much-awaited period of rest. "Coming?" Reyes, now full of vigor again, turned to ask Ran.

"I'll rest a bit. If I'm not down before the bell rings, come wake me up, will you?" Nodding their agreement, Reyes and Daveed left the auditorium with the swarm of students.

Breathing a sigh of relief at the now empty space, Ran basked in the rare silence. He finally gave way to drowsiness and propped his head on his arm, slowly drifting away.

An hour passed in the blink of an eye, and soon he was the one being pinched. Looking up drowsily, he saw his friends' silly faces staring down at him. "Time to get up," Daveed announced, clapping too close to Ran's ear and making him jump.

"You're alright?" Daveed asked, and Ran hmphed, stretching his limbs before getting up to leave with his friends. However, Reyes' attention was zoomed on the last row.

Tilting his head, he uttered a curious, "Hey."

"Hello," a low husky voice responded. Reyes did not look back and instead stared intently at Ran, who jumped at the sound as if he'd been hit.

"We're practicing archery now, Madamme Khannah is not someone who takes lightly to having her class missed. You should come along," Daveed said to the stranger while shoving Ran out of his seat.

As they walked, Ran kept sneaking glances at the boy who had accompanied him in the auditorium, but the boy remained unperturbed. Finally, unable to stand it anymore, he asked, "Did you come in while I was asleep?"

Despite the arrays, his senses could still pick up sounds within a close range. But if he's knocked out, he won't sense anyone's presence. So that's what must have happened.

"No, I stayed in my seat after Professor Gregory dismissed the class," the boy said, which earned him a stunned look from Ran.

"What's your name?" Daveed interjected, cutting out Ran's line of questioning. "I'm Daveed, this is Reyes," he offered, "And the idiot with the mouth wide open is Ran."

"Daniyel," the boy responded.

By the time they reached the playground, Madamme Khannah was already addressing the students.

"Today's class is focused on Archery," she announced in a commanding tone. "You will learn to hone your aim and concentration, and then you will slowly incorporate your magical abilities into the act."

The gathered students exchanged excited glances. They readily assembled their bows and arrows and started shooting at either still or moving targets. The late arrivers greeted the Madamme and hurried to take their places on the field.

Madamme Khannah made her rounds amidst the students, offering pointers where needed. As the instructor of Magical Administration at Hyacinth High for over a decade, she could easily single out those with potential and was often on the lookout for hidden talents.

In the back row, the two tardy boys caught her attention. One was the young master of the Ophelia line, and the other was the new child who joined this semester. As they each took their stances, she could tell that Daniyel was a natural with the bow and arrow. His movements were fluid and graceful as he aimed straight for the bullseye every time.

Ran De Ophelia, on the other hand, was messy. He had no concentration whatsoever, and his arrows all missed. Many of them veered off course, making her fret he might accidentally injure a student.

After pacing back and forth for a while, she loomed over Ran with furrowed brows. "Everything alright here?" she asked concerned.

Ran hesitated for a minute before admitting, "I'm not very good at this." Watching the mysterious new kid hit a bullseye on every target with ease didn't help his confidence either.

"Not to worry, dear boy. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses," Madamme Khannah gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Perhaps you ought to sit this one out?" She offered gently.

Ran persisted, but as the class went on, his frustrations only grew. He could feel the other students' eyes on him. He'd be worried about their judgment of his lack of skill if he weren't too occupied trying to tune them all out.

Oddly, the sounds at that moment were unreasonably heightened. As he tried to focus on his breathing and shutting them out, a voice pierced his skull like a drilling hammer.

"You'll have to excuse the young master, he is used to being served everything on a silver plate. Nobody taught him how to move his muscles," Nahro taunted and got a few snickers from the kids surrounding him.

Ran felt his cheeks flush but before he could respond, Dani shot a blazing arrow that passed right by the jeering boy's head, synching a few hairs on its path.

"Hey," Nahrin shouted, "Don't mess around," shutting off her brother out of sight and pointing her bow and arrow at Dani.

"What are you going to do about it?" Dani taunted fixing his bow to aim back at her.

Rushing to stand in the middle of the two, Madamme Khannah raised her hands to stop them from maiming each other, "Aim at the targets. The one with the highest points in the lowest amount of time wins." She declared.

Consequently, Dani and Nahrin took their places at the range, drawing their bows and taking careful aim. The first few rounds were neck and neck, with each of them hitting their targets dead-on. The rest of the students stopped their activities to watch the two go at it.

The sun blazed down on the field, and sweat beaded on Nahrin's forehead as she aimed her arrows at the moving targets.

The targets jerked and jostled further away, the two concentrating on following their movements. Feeling that the competition wasn't as riveting, a student sent a gush of icy wind to steer the arrows off course.

Once again, Daniyel incorporated his fire magic. He condensed all his energy into the arrow and let it loose. It streaked through the air, leaving a fiery tail behind it, and hit the flying target, incinerating it to ash.

Nahrin frowned, the sweat making her long hair stick to her face. She wiped at her face with the back of her sleeve and quickly regained her composure. Taking in deep breaths, she visualized an invisible forcefield that quickly manifested around Dani. The forcefield acted as a siphon, sapping his strength, and slowing down his movements.

She continued to concentrate on her targets, ignoring him. However, the tenacious kid still managed three more strikes before hunching down in exhaustion from her assault.

Nahrin was winning the match, and the kids were either cheering or booing. Reyes and Daveed were loudly accusing her of cheating, and her brother was yelling back at them that Daniyel cheated first by aiming at him.

Some other kid was shouting out the scores at the top of his lungs, "Five shots for Daniyel, now six shots, Nahrin got her eighth point, she's about to score another one..."

But Ran could barely concentrate. He sensed something was off before he could register what it was. Clutching his bow tightly, he attempted to block the constant hum of energy that flowed through him. He tried to subdue the panic that was slowly baring its fangs.

From an early age, he learned to make peace with his curse. It was fine that he could hear things no one else could; whispers from across the room, rustling of clothes, even the faint thump of a heartbeat.

But at this school, he had found a much-needed respite. The damper from the arrays had allowed him to tune out most of the influx of sound only letting in what he could handle. Within these grounds, he could pretend to be normal.

Yet, slowly but surely, everything began to unravel in the past hour. Ran felt the magical protection give way, like air being forcibly expelled from his lungs. His eyes widened with terror and confusion as every sound in the school flooded into his brain.

His grip on the bow and arrow faltered, and they slipped from his hands. He tried to take deep breaths, desperate to steady himself, but the blood pounding in his veins surged straight to his head, leaving him lightheaded.

The assault intensified with each passing second until he could no longer endure it. Clutching his head with both hands, he collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony.

Then, just as suddenly, the magical arrays stabilized. The deafening chaos faded into murmurs from the students. But Ran heard none of it, he was now lying unconscious on the grass.