The sky over Windrest Village always glowed softly at dawn, streaked with pale colors that shimmered like magic dust.
Everyone said it was a blessing from the four elemental gods.
To Lyra Vane, it was just another reminder that the world was filled with magic…
and she had none.
She stood in a long line of teenagers her age, all waiting for their Affinity Test the exam that revealed the element you were born with. A simple ceremony for everyone else.
But for Lyra, it felt like standing at the edge of a cliff.
She squeezed her palms together.
"Please," she whispered to herself. "Just… let me have something."
Ahead of her, a boy placed his hand on the testing orb. It glowed a bright sky-blue, swirling with tiny winds.
"Air affinity!" the examiner announced.
The crowd clapped.
The next girl's orb filled with warm golden light.
"Light affinity!"
More claps.
One by one, everyone lit up the orb;earth, water, air, light. Even the weakest spark was better than nothing. Anything was better than nothing.
Then ….
"Lyra Vane," the examiner called.
Her stomach twisted.
She stepped forward, feeling dozens of eyes press on her. Some curious, some pitying, and some already expecting her to fail.
The crystal orb sat on a stone pedestal, glowing faintly, as if waiting to judge her.
Lyra took a shaky breath and placed her hand on it.
The orb stayed clear.
She swallowed. Maybe it needed time. Maybe it was slow. Maybe—
The orb flickered.
Her heart jumped.
Then it turned….Clear again.
No light.
No color.
No element.
The examiner hesitated, then spoke the words Lyra feared most
"Elementless."
A wave of murmurs spread across the watching villagers.
"She failed again…"
"No affinity at sixteen? That's impossible."
"She's cursed."
"Poor girl."
Lyra stepped back, cheeks burning, throat tight. She tried to keep her face steady, but every whisper cut like a blade.
The examiner cleared his throat. "Next."
Just like that, she was dismissed.
Forgotten.
Invisible.
Elementless.
Lyra pushed through the crowd, ignoring the stares, ignoring the children who stepped away from her as if she carried a plague. She didn't stop until she reached the stone bridge that crossed Windrest River.
Only then did she breathe.
She gripped the railing, blinking hard.
"It doesn't matter," she muttered. "It never mattered anyway. I knew this would…"
A scream cut through the marketplace.
Lyra jerked her head up.
A cart had toppled over near the stalls, its crates rolling across the cobblestones. A little kid stood frozen as one of the heavy wooden crates teetered above him.
The mother shouted, "Move!"
But the boy didn't ,Lyra didn't think ,She ran.
She sprinted across the market, pushing past people, feet barely touching the ground. The crate was falling..faster ..faster..
"Move!" she yelled.
She threw herself between the collapsing wood and the child.
And before she could touch the crate…
It exploded in a burst of crimson fire.
The shockwave knocked everyone backward, including Lyra. She hit the ground, ears ringing, vision swimming.
Screams filled the air.
"Fire!"
"Crimson flame!"
"Get back!"
Crimson flame?
Lyra pushed herself up, trembling. The crate was gone ,burned to ash yet nothing else around them had burned. The fire had been sharp, controlled, almost… precise.
But crimson flame… wasn't supposed to exist.
Not anymore.
Not after the Crimson Calamity, the mage who nearly destroyed an entire kingdom four centuries ago.
Everyone stared at her with wide, terrified eyes.
Someone whispered, "It came from her hands…"
Lyra looked down.
Her fingertips still glowed faintly red
No.
No, this wasn't real.
She staggered back. "I…I didn't mean…. I don't know what that was—"
But the crowd was already pulling away from her like she was a monster.
And from the edge of the marketplace, a cloaked figure had stopped walking.
Watching her.
Unmoving.
Eyes glowing faint gold beneath the hood.
She didn't know it yet.
But that man would change her life.