War of the Magi: The Complete Epic Fantasy Series

In a quiet alleyway in the capital city of Caia, past the hustle of marketplace vendors, butchers, and armory guards, a family of two huddled in squalor. They were ignored by all the citizens, who saw homeless in a city like Caia as demeaning to the city bearing the emperor’s palace. They saw the homeless as barely above rocks in the middle of the road, and only because the homeless had the courtesy to move when shouted at.

The two girls, slouched in between two pubs closed in the early morning, knew what their function in society was. They were to stay out of the way of anyone who dressed better than them—essentially, everyone—and could only claim scraps that came because of mercy and kindness. If the vendors did not feel like giving them rotting food, then they would have to resort to desperate means to eat. Means which the elder woman did not take kindly to.

But for the young girl living with her mother, no situation could be worse. She did not mind herself that she was hungry, for it was all she had known in her childhood. She could only see a future that would go up. But for her mother, who had once lived a comfortable life before magic purging took place, the young girl felt great sorrow. Her mother had cared for her every day of her life, often at the expense of work and earning a wage. The young girl had known that her father had never been in the picture, which made her mother’s devotion all the better.

It was about all that she had. The clothes that she wore, ragged, tattered brown robes, had not been changed or washed in months. She did not have shoes or sandals, forced to adopt to the gravel roads that ran through Caia. If she wanted food, she would have to do what her mother did not want her to do.

But through it all, she had one advantage. It was an advantage that her mother made her swear not to use for fear of retaliation, but it was an advantage that on this day, a particularly hot afternoon where the outdoors could feel like a furnace and the sun beat down like a torch on one’s skull, young Sera Bradford used.

She and her mother had not eaten in two days. Though she tried to remain positive, asking her mother about what they would do when they could live in their own home, she had reached her point. She would have to “borrow” some food.

Sera’s mother said nothing as she left. Sera could feel the stare of those heavy brown eyes, eyes of a woman who looked a decade older than she was, but she felt the weight of her mother’s fatigue more.

She had the advantage of being of a smaller height, barely above five feet tall, and used it to her advantage. Either citizens would not notice her, or the ones who did would just assume she was a young girl briefly separated from her family. That Sera kept an innocent smile on at almost all times helped dispel any looks and concerns from overly protective citizens.

Men and women of far greater means, with robes freshly made and purses of coins so thick that it would feed Sera for two months, walked through the meat marketplace. Sera saw sausage and other items on sale, but her eyes caught the four links hung together. She and her mother could have two each—maybe her mother could have three, and she’d have one—and that would last a couple of days. She could remain out of the eye of the soldiers until then.

But she had to figure out a way to distract the vendor, a big, burly, bearded brute who spoke with a thick baritone voice and sounded like he was verbally assaulting all passers, even those who did not want to so much as look at him. In the past, she’d just waited until sunset when it got dark, but the heat was getting to her mother.

She casually walked forward to the vendor. The brute, despite having the size to snap Sera in half, did not scare her. Not when she had the advantage that he almost certainly did not.

“What brings a child to my shop? What does your father want?” he spat, disgusted at the size of Sera.

Sera had heard much worse before. That comment didn’t faze her at all.

“Your sausage links, sir,” she said, her voice gentle and melodic.

People often complimented the girl on her voice. She often sang to calm herself in moments of stress, and whenever others heard her, they forgot about her being homeless and instead saw her as a performer. Sera had thought before of becoming a street performer, but having seen the life that others suffered—and, really, because of her mother begging her not to do so—she held off on that for the time being.

“What, this?” he said, reaching down and holding up several pieces of food.

That was all that Sera needed to see. She couldn’t exactly steal the one on display, because not only would the vendor be after her, so would all of Caia. But when she saw some more hidden, she felt pleased.

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

“I don’t want to hear that. I want to hear ‘I’ll have some, sir.’”

But Sera was already walking away, giving the appearance of someone searching for their parents.

“Who in the name of Emperor Syrast sends their daughter to scout food?! Do not waste my time again!”

Sera scarcely heard the words of the vendor. But it reminded her of something else.

Supposedly, Emperor Rufus Syrast was to give a grand speech this evening. And the speech would involve something very dear and personal to Sera.

She did a long loop through the marketplace, stalling for time so that the meat vendor would lose sight of and interest in her actions. While walking, she also pulled her blonde hair up so that her appearance was not as noticeable as before. She would eventually pull the robes over her head to hide her face as much as possible, but that would not come until the moment of truth. Otherwise, it would just draw unwanted attention.

When she reached the meat vendor, she kept him in her peripheral vision, making sure not to look at him and draw his attention. He was busy hawking pork at a young couple. The conversation seemed intense, and as Sera got closer, she saw it was better—they were haggling over the price. The man, apparently, was a member of the imperial army and said that he was entitled to half off the listed price of the food. The seller might as well have been told no one wanted his products.

In the commotion, Sera threw the hood over her head and ducked by the side of the stand, quickly going behind it so she wasn’t seen for long. The man and the couple argued still, and Sera had an easy shot to the four sausage links that she wanted.

She reached over and grabbed them.

And in doing so, yanked several more down.

It was an action that drew the attention of the vendor.

“You thief!” he roared.

Sera acted on instinct, using the one advantage she had.

Magic.

She flicked her right hand at the vendor’s boots, and a small fire erupted. It was not a serious fire—one, Sera didn’t want to kill anyone or burn an entire stand down, and two, even if she wanted to, Sera did not have the magical capabilities to affect more than an area as large as two feet—but it did the trick. The vendor quickly kicked his shoes off. Sera dashed away, ignoring the cries of the seller. The couple said nothing. Sera suspected their anger with the vendor ensured they would not help him.

“Find that girl! The thief!” the man bellowed.

But no one seemed interested in helping him. Sera figured either most people saw petty theft as an unavoidable part in a city like this or the citizens just didn’t care. She knew she wasn’t the only one who had to struggle to survive. Perhaps the townsfolk had simply given up, choosing to focus on the more heinous acts by the lowest members of society instead of stealing simple food.

Sera stuffed the food in her robes, but no one so much as gave her a second glance as she headed back to the alleyway where her mother waited. Sera turned the corner and saw her pressed up against the wall, so weak that she could not sit up straight.

“Mama,” Sera cooed. “I brought some food.”

Her mother groaned as she placed her hand on the ground to sit up. Sera noticed her arm shaking, and a cold fear hit her. Her mother had never been physically strong, but this seemed like a new low. Sera would have to get food more often and take better care of her.

“My little Sera,” her mother said, and hearing her mother’s trembling voice only reinforced Sera’s feelings. “Where did you get this from?”

“The marketplace.”

Her mother let out a gasp of pain once she’d sat up straight. But the gasp disappeared as quickly as it came, and now she looked at Sera with eyes that reminded her of her childhood days.

Sera knew where she got her toughness from. It wasn’t her father.

“And how did you get this sausage?” she asked, though she accepted one link and bit into it tenderly.

“I took it,” Sera said.

It felt like the best she could do between being honest with her mother and worrying her by being too blunt. Her mother grimaced and snorted, though Sera knew no lecture would come. They both knew Sera stole not out of greed or thrill, but necessity. Sera always yearned for the day when she could give coins for food instead of magic for food.

“And did you do anything to get it?”

Now Sera grimaced. This was the part that would draw attention from her mother, and she would have to accept the shame that came.

“I used magic.”

Sera expected her mother to sternly lecture her. She expected shame and a harsh warning.

But her mother seemed nonplussed about it. And that worried Sera more. If her mother had lost the fire that made her, well, Mama, then how bad was she?

“I have told you before the dangers of using magic when you are not licensed by the emperor to do so,” she said. “And in our current place in the empire, we will not be licensed soon. Even for as unique as your control of magic is. Especially for that reason, since you do not need a medium to use magic.”

“I know, Mama, but it was the only way.”

Her mother said nothing, perhaps accepting of this bargain. But Sera knew full well the punishment. A first offense for using unlicensed magic was jail time for a month. A second was jail time for a year. And a third time was death.

And that was in theory. It was in the guidelines and the laws that the emperor had displayed for all to see in every street corner. In practice, though, the soldiers of the empire would punish magi who were caught so severely that many would die in jail in the first month. And those that survived were “forgotten.”

Rare was it that a mage who had gotten caught using magic would be set free. Sera was told such people existed, but she had never met or seen one.

“Someday, Mama, we’re going to be able to use our magic,” Sera said as she began eating her own food. “And I’m going to take you across the Rufusian Sea. We’re going to go to the mountains.”

“To the land of the dragons? That seems awfully dangerous,” her mother said with a teasing smile.

“Could it be any worse than here?” Sera said, a rare moment of pessimistic candor for her.

“Perhaps not. But if we can go north, then we would live in much better conditions here.”

“I know. But Mama, it’s going to be great. We will stay inside at night so the dragons can’t hunt us, and—”

Her mother laughed, and Sera chuckled too, relieved to see her mother feeling more cheerful now that she had eaten. She cuddled up next to her mother as the two ate, two women of the same blood, one closer to death than birth, the other merely surviving. There was no place Sera felt more comfortable at than under her mother’s arm. Even as her mother became frailer and thinner, and her bones more evident, Sera felt a warmth here.

As she ate her sausage, she first began humming a tune that her mother had taught her as a young child. The song was sung late at night, perhaps when Sera had problems falling asleep in the cold. It always comforted her and got her out of her head. She often sung or hummed it just out of habit, but here, she was doing it to forget the condition her mother was in.

She hummed the first verse and chorus as she ate her food. The tune was an upbeat one. It put her in a positive frame of mind. Then, after she had finished her sausage and her mother went for the second piece, Sera sang the first verse slowly in her soft, beautiful, touching soprano voice.

“You are the star of this world, my little girl,
Little girl, the gift of my life,
You will do great things, my shining pearl,
My shining pearl, the ender of strife,
You shall be a guiding light, my sweet angel,
My sweet angel, the gift of my life.”

Sera then proceeded to the chorus, trying not to notice the tears in her mother’s eyes.

“Sera, my beautiful daughter,
Sera, my grace from above,
May you live in peace,
May you live in love.”

It took Sera a little under a minute to sing the first verse and the chorus. She was about to launch into the second verse when she noticed the tears from her mother had turned into full bawling.

“Mama,” Sera said as she squeezed her mother tightly, trying to fight off her own tears. “What’s wrong? I thought the song would help.”

Her mother didn’t respond for several seconds, instead sobbing into Sera’s shoulder. Sera held her tight, wanting to remind her mother that just as she had cared for her all these years, now she could care back for her. But then the image of the shaking arm returned, and Sera felt a terrible feeling.

“I created the song for you in a time when I believed we would rise out of poverty,” she said through sniffles. “I thought we would come out of this and that you would find a life of peace and love. But I am afraid that I have failed you.”

“Mama…” Sera said, her voice cracking.

No, Sera thought. I will find peace. I will find love. And I will bring Mama along.

“It’s OK. Just because we haven’t found it yet doesn’t mean we won’t find it at all.”

Her mother brushed away some tears as she gently laughed.

“I wish I had the optimism that you possess, my little Sera. It is a gift, perhaps greater than your control of magic, that you must never relinquish, no matter what happens to you or what anyone says about you. I do hope that you find it some day. I have my fears. Emperor Syrast has never made things easy for our kind, and it is only getting worse. But—”

“But the winds change. You told me that yourself.”

Her mother smiled gently.

“For a girl of only fourteen years old, you carry yourself with better dignity and grace than many in the royal court,” she said. “You make me proud, Sera. Even if I never find peace and love again, I know you will. I do not need to be there to know it has happened.”

“Mama, don’t—”

But the galloping of horses from outside the alleyway interrupted her. They weren’t coming to get her or her mother. Sera knew she was not of any importance to garner horses arriving. But it reminded her of what was going on today.

“The emperor is scheduled to speak soon,” Sera said. “I want to go.”

“Sera,” her mother said sternly.

“Mama, please. The rumors state that he’s going to address magi and I want to be there. I want to know what we’re going to face.”

Her mother looked displeased, but then a gentle, resigning smile came over her.

“You may be fourteen, but you are too wise and too smart for me to stop you,” she said. “Promise me you will do everything you can to blend in, my little Sera.”

“I will.”

“You know what these speeches are like. The people who support him are not afraid to show their loyalty by beating, taunting, and committing crimes against those who they suspect for a second might be against the emperor.”

“I know, Mama.”

“These crowds, they get so riled up by his words. I… just be careful, my little Sera, OK?”

“Mama,” Sera said, answering her by hugging her tightly. “I’ll hang near the back, OK? That way, if it gets ugly, I can escape.”

Her mother smiled and kissed her gently on the forehead.

“Go then, my child. Let me know what the emperor says.”

Sera promised she would, ducking out of the alleyway with her hood up.

It was about a ten-minute walk to the palace, from which the emperor would speak. Sera always thought it was wrong that the emperor would get to have a licensed mage project his voice for him. How could he do that and then talk about the need to regulate magic heavily, to where he likely empowered his guards to use whatever means necessary to bring down magi?

Someday, Sera imagined, she would garner an audience with Emperor Rufus Syrast. She would choose her words carefully—she knew he was an easily offended man, the soft-skinned type who would snap because he thought the tone of voice was not cheerful enough. But she would make sure that the emperor understood he did not need the restrictions on magic that he had. A simple mix of flattery, gravitas, and gentle, subtle prodding should do the trick.

In some ways, it really wasn’t difficult to manipulate the emperor. The problem was that she wasn’t the only one who knew that, and if she ever got an audience, she knew she would not be the last one to speak about the issue.

But for today, she would take being an observer, seeing how the citizens of the home of their leader reacted to the emperor’s new decree.

She wasn’t stupid. She knew her mother was right.
It only became more evident as she walked, using her size to blend in, past the hordes of citizens talking about what a great man the emperor was and how he could do no wrong. They spoke of how he had given Hydor back to the humans, a land once harassed by dragons and forces from the far northeast. His supporters even spoke glowingly about naming the empire and city after himself, saying he had earned the right to make every first-born son named Rufus.

Sera saw that if she were to change the perception of magi, it would not come at the individual level. These people worshiped the emperor as a god. She had to get “their god” to change his message. Somehow.

When she turned the final corner leading to the street by the emperor’s palace, she was floored.

2676 pages

For fans of Anne McCaffrey and JRR Tolkien comes the critically appraised epic fantasy series "War of the Magi," by Stephen Allan. This series, spanning over four centuries of legends, warfare, and falling empires and rising kingdoms, tells the stories of perseverance, triumph, adversity, love, tragedy, and legacy. Read on as a diverse cast of characters learns what it means to use their magic for good, to watch as their legacies rise and fall, and to ultimately save the world from the gods who would destroy it.