Magic. Just mentioning it brings awe into the eyes of old and young alike. No wonder. It's a promise of dragons, princesses, and heroes. Of flying castles and last unicorns. However, magic in its truest self is not a uniformly good, paradise creating law of the universe. It's a tool, a potent and amazing one, but a tool nonetheless. And there's something to be said about our ability to take something amazing and make others miserable with it.

When Daphne was young, she, too, often dreamt of being gifted. That was, of course, way before she learnt what it meant to be able to spellcast in the Empire. Then, she tested positive for magic potential, and realized magic was more of a curse than a gift. Magic took everything from Daphne. She would make sure to take it back.

Before any of you dive into this, let me warn you. This will be slow. I write for fun and I write mainly for myself, and as such, I will be writing what I find particularly enjoyable - a character driven story. There will be action scenes when they are due, but they will not be the main focus of the story. Instead, the plot's focus will be on SPOILER following a bunch of different people with disparate and often opposing motivations joined up and going on a quest together out of necessity END OF SPOILER. Such a story can't be built quickly. That being said, I hope that the payoff will be worth it. If you are still willing to give this a try, then, by all means, go on and enjoy yourself.