Kai remained motionless and entirely focused, his eyes taking in every single second of the child’s life. He curled his fists at the start and never relaxed them.

His companions had taken cautious steps back as he grew dimmer, fiercer, each time the warlord’s enforcers came to shave her head and force her on machines. They pricked her with needles constantly, taking some of her blood to analyze it. They forced her to wear brain scanning devices and made her use her powers until she screamed out in pain. They locked her in cages and shocked her with energy, as a punishment for any degree of failure and, sometimes, for no reason at all. Weekly. Her energy was stored in vials; for what purpose, Kai didn’t know.

Year after year, this was her normal.

The child was called Nalini. Her folder said so. Nalini never flinched, never complained, never asked for anything. Fast-forwarding through it, Kai felt like screaming. Her meeting with him was only one of the million trials life had thrown at her. And it wasn’t the only time she fought, either.

Twelve. Out of the fifteen mages she was asked to scan in her lifetime, she’d freed twelve of them.

Sometimes, in the darkness, she gathered her knees to her chest and held them close. Kai had believed he knew what rage was, but he’d had no clue, not until he saw this. He needed to destroy something, just as soon as he was done watching these horrific recordings.

Years passed, and nothing changed for her. She grew up into a pretty young thing. The warlord noticed. Kai half expected him to try to touch her, given the way he looked at her. If he had, by all gods, he would have found a way to bring him back to life in order to torture him for the rest of eternity. But Enlil had other ideas.

It was Imperial year 1219, a few years after Kai had openly started to take over Enlil’s territories at the fringes. He called Nalini to his throne room, in the presence of his seven advisors.

“Here’s my favorite mage,” he called fondly.

She pretended to smile.

The warlord got down from his seat and gestured Nalini to follow him, as he went to the very balcony where Kai had stood a few hours ago.

She trailed him as he spoke; drones followed them, so Kai didn’t miss a second of the exchange. A small delegation was waiting for them on the balcony—two guards and a noble dressed in white and gold, like Enlil.

“Our men have fought against this barbarian, this Kai Lor, for years now, and yet, he still escapes us.”

The direct criticism didn’t faze the girl. “Kai Lor is beyond my reach, my lord,” she lied. Kai knew she lied. She’d appeared out of nowhere when he’d needed help years ago; no doubt she could easily have located him, had she wished to. “I can’t see anything from him.”

“Yes, yes, I know you tried. It’s quite all right to admit that there are creatures more powerful than you.”

The teenager attempted no reply.

“Given our predicament, the Wise have authorized that we recruit more mages to our cause.”

She didn’t so much as blink.

“We’ve selected a handful of potential recruits. A dozen children. You’ll train them, bring them up to speed.”

A nod.

“I’m so very proud of you, Nali,” the warlord gushed. “And to let it be known that I reward loyalty, I will now welcome you into my family.”

Kai felt sick to his stomach. Enlil gestured to the male in white and gold, a tall, pale Evris, in his early thirties perhaps. “You’ll wed my son, child.”

Nalini inclined her head compliantly. “If you so wish.”

The warlord laughed. “Not even a smile. But surely you’ll be glad to reclaim your title now.”

She lifted a brow.

“You were born a Nova, princess of Itri.”

For the first time, one emotion was evident in her expression, a faint distaste.

“That name means little to me,” she said.

Enlil inclined his head like he understood. “I suppose it wouldn’t. How long has it been since you’ve heard from your family now?”

She remained silent.

“You’ll be given more freedom. Quarters of your own. And should your children possess a fraction of your strength, we’ll be very blessed indeed.”

No doubt that’s why the greedy male had chosen her as his son’s incubator. How old was she, anyway? He glanced down to the date displayed on the monitor, and did the math; she’d said she was twelve back in 1214, so that made her seventeen in 1219. A child still. Kai was moments from erupting.

“There’s just one little thing,” the warlord said, a cruel smile on his lips. “A small matter. Consider it a formality, really.”

He lifted his hands, and the two guards standing behind his son parted, revealing a young boy bound in energy chains. Nalini didn’t react to his presence. Like she’d expected it.

“You’ve never shown anything but unwavering compliance, child. But to give you a place amongst my family, I need to know you’re committed to our cause.” He pointed to the child. “This mageling is belligerent and refuses to comply at every turn.”

Kai froze, expecting the cold order before it crossed Enlil’s lips. “Kill it.”

Nalini nodded, lifting her hand. One of the guards’ weapons lifted from its holster and floated to her. An energy whip. The cruelest one she could have picked. Kai had seen the sort of damage it inflicted on a person. She was going to have to hit a few times to kill.

He half wished he was weaker and could have looked away from the holographic recording. But he watched her, never blinking, ready to let her destroy the dream, destroy the illusion. His hopes for their entire race had rested upon the actions of that child. By killing a five-year-old to save her own skin, she was going to destroy it. Kai understood it, and he knew he had to watch her do it, if only so he could move on.

The girl took one step and smiled. “It’s okay,” she said, and Enlil beamed with glee.

Only, Kai realized, she wasn’t talking to him at all. Her eyes were fixed on the child. The boy stopped trembling. He nodded almost imperceptibly, cluing Kai in a second before it started.

He stared speechless, barely believing his eyes.

Obeying an order no one could hear, the child ducked to the floor. Nalini’s flaming whip cracked the air, hitting both guards so hard they dropped to the floor; she leaped and grabbed the child, throwing him on her shoulder before raising her hand to protect them both. Enlil and his son had both started shooting at them with blasters. The blasts hit an energy wall.

“You’re going to regret this, girl,” the warlord swore.

Nalini shrugged. “Doubtful. Your son isn’t my type. Too pasty. And, boy, ever heard of working out?”

Enlil seemed shocked, with good reason. This was the first time he ever saw that smile. That spunk. The fire she’d hidden since the moment she entered his palace.

“Well, so long everybody,” she said, before jumping down over the balcony railing.

Kai’s stomach dropped. The drop might have killed her.

Her red whip flashed, hooking on a large, heavy statue, and the fugitives safely dangled down from it until they’d reached the ground.

“Guards! Follow her! Set every fucking drone in the palace on the seer!”

Kai was grateful for the order; he needed to know what had happened next. It took minutes for the first drones to find her in the palace’s gardens. He remembered these very sculptures, fountains, and bushes. Eight years before her, Kai had followed the path out toward the entrance of the warlord’s palace. Nalini was running in a different direction now. Deeper into the gardens. It made no sense. In that direction, there was nothing but cliffs. Endless cliffs dropping into a torrential hell.

Hundreds of guards followed on foot and in speeders and light fighters, all shooting in her direction in vain. She arrived at the cliffs and talked to the child on her back, ever so softly. Kai couldn’t hear a word, but he could guess they were reassuring, infusing strength into him.

Both of Nalini’s eyes had turned a pure blue. The boy held on tighter to her back, burying his little head between her shoulder blades. She praised him before sitting on the ground, legs crossed, eyes closed, like there weren’t hundreds of enemies closing in on her. Kai understood; he knelt when he needed to clear his mind and push his own powers. Her enemy stilled, confused, wondering if she was surrendering, but there was no doubt that if they’d tried to close in around her, they would have hit an invisible energy wall.

When her eyes opened again, they were both gold this time. Blue for peace and gold when she attacked, Kai realized. Most of the time, they were both shades because she was always on her guard.

Nalini popped up and started running at full speed toward the cliff. Guards shouted, attempting to catch her before she committed suicide; their orders had been to bring her back alive, no doubt. Kai fucking hoped they’d managed to stop her from jumping to her death.

A high-pitched cry broke through the skies; the surveillance drones, guards, and everyone else zeroed in on the direction where it had come from, confused at first, and then downright incredulous.

An entire flock of humongous firebirds flew their way at full speed. The wild, untamable animals hated people; sightings were rare and never during the day. Yet there were at least two dozen of them.

“Cover!” a commander screamed, and the enforcers ducked.

Firebirds were dangerous, not unlike the dragons of legend, and these clearly intended them harm; focused on them with talons outstretched, screaming as they dove down on the enforcer battalions. Blasters could do little against their impenetrable iron feathers, and the enforcers’ exouniforms wouldn’t stop their fire.

But the flock had little interest in the enforcers at all.

Nalini jumped while they were distracted. The largest bird’s talons hooked around her left arm, digging into her flesh as he pulled her up and flew her through the Vratis torrents.

The guards watched, helpless. Drones flew along, following her at a distance, as no machine could rival a goddamn firebird in speed.

Kai’s eyes narrowed, as facts started to compute in his mind.

“Zero in the drone closest to her,” he ordered.

He started pacing, his reality taking on a brand-new meaning. A confusing, yet utterly logical turn.

“This is as close as we can get without getting blurry,” Wench said.

It was close enough. Close enough to clearly see what he needed to see. Once they reached the shore, the bird’s talon unhooked from her arm. The bird hadn’t meant any harm, but it certainly wasn’t used to chartering people around; his sharp claws bit at the girl’s flesh, leaving a clear, bloody mark up her arm to her shoulder and then extending a little on her throat. A wound that would leave a scar.

A scar he knew. She’d proudly get tattoos around it, no doubt celebrating the day she’d grasped her freedom.

Nalini talked to the child, who jumped down her back and looked away reluctantly. She plunged her fingers inside her deep, ugly wound. Thick, dark blue blood coated her hand. She winced but kept her mouth shut. Finally, she pulled out something—her tracker, Kai realized. Then she turned, one hand lifted toward the drones, and the image shut down as the machines exploded.

He didn’t need any more proof at this point, but Kai moved to the command panel and pulled up the last clear image they’d recorded.

Photo manipulation wasn’t his strongest suit; again, he had to rely on Wench. “Age her,” he directed. “Add hair.”

The male pulled up the right program.

“What sort of hair?” he asked.

“Dark, with strands of red.”

He could also have told him about the tattoos and the face jewelry. He didn’t need to. Once Wench was done, the program showed exactly what he’d expected to see.

It was her. The child. The female he’d seen in his vision. They were one and the same. Nalini Nova.

He’d never felt so stupid in his entire life.