Dust settled slowly over Windrest Marketplace.
People huddled together, whispering, staring, pointing none of them daring to step close to Lyra. Their fear pressed against her like a heavy weight.
Crimson magic wasn't normal.
Crimson magic wasn't safe.
And in every tale told across Arcania…
Crimson magic brought disaster.
Lyra backed up until her shoulders hit a wooden stall.
"I'm not dangerous," she said, voice shaking. "I didn't mean to…..idon't even know how—"
But her words drowned in panic.
"Crimson flames can't exist."
"She'll bring ruin!"
"Get the elder! Someone stop her!"
Her heart pounded so loudly she barely heard them anymore.
Then…..
A low voice cut through the noise.
"Enough."
Everything stopped.
The villagers froze as the cloaked man stepped forward. His hood was deep gold, trimmed with silver colors no ordinary traveler wore. He moved calmly, as if he didn't share the crowd's fear.
He stopped in front of Lyra, his boots inches from the ashes still drifting in the air.
Lyra swallowed hard. "I… I didn't mean—"
"I know," he said gently.
She blinked. "You… do?"
He lowered his hood.
He wasn't old maybe in his late twenties but his presence felt ancient. His eyes were bright gold, glowing faintly like sunlight trapped behind glass. Not normal. Not human-like.
Everyone gasped.
"A mage…"
"A High Mage… look at his eyes…"
"Is that—"
Lyra didn't dare breathe.
The man placed a hand over the burned ground. For a moment, light circled his palm;soft, warm, pure. The ground restored itself instantly, as if nothing had ever been burned.
Gasps filled the market.
Light magic that strong…? Only a handful of mages in the entire continent could do that.
He rose to his full height and faced the villagers.
"No one was injured," he announced. "This child saved a life. She caused no harm."
Child.
Lyra flinched, but she kept quiet.
The villagers still looked unsure. Someone murmured, "But the flames—"
"Were controlled," the mage said. "And intentional. She protected, not destroyed."
Lyra stared at him.
She hadn't protected anything on purpose. She'd barely understood what happened.
Why was he defending her?
The golden-eyed man turned to her.
"What's your name?"
"Lyra," she whispered. "Lyra Vane."
He nodded slowly, as if he'd already expected that answer.
"My name is Aldric Vale," he said. "Headmaster of Emberveil Academy."
Lyra froze.
THE Emberveil Academy?
The most powerful magic school in all of Arcania?
Where only the strongest young mages were accepted?
She shook her head. "I—I can't go there. I don't even have an affinity."
The crowd murmured again.
Aldric studied her silently, his gaze calm but heavy as if weighing something inside her.
"You're right," he said. "You don't have a normal affinity."
He paused.
"But you're not elementless."
Lyra's breath hitched. "What?"
"You have magic. Ancient magic. Lost magic." He touched the air near her wrist, and for a moment, faint red sparks flickered again. "It responds to emotion but strong emotion. Rare. Dangerous… but not evil."
Lyra shook her head. "But crimson flames…."
"…are feared," Aldric finished. "Not because they destroy. But because no one understands them."
He stepped closer, lowering his voice so only she could hear:
"And you, Lyra Vane, just awakened a power this world believed vanished forever."
Her heart pounded in her chest, too loud, too fast.
He straightened and spoke louder:
"I will take her to Emberveil Academy. She needs training, proper trainingbefore this power overwhelms her."
Gasps.
Whispers.
Lyra felt the world tilt beneath her feet.
"What if I hurt someone?" she whispered.
Aldric looked down at her with a steady gaze.
"Then it is my responsibility to ensure you never do."
The villagers didn't argue not when a High Mage spoke. Not when his eyes shone with that calm authority that made everyone trust him.
Aldric extended a hand toward her.
"Come, Lyra. Your life in this village is over. Your true path begins now."
Lyra stared at his hand.
Her whole body trembled in fear, confusion, disbelief.
Elementless Lyra.
Nobody Lyra.
Useless Lyra.
How could she have any kind of path?
But she remembered the crate exploding, the fire responding to her panic… and how the entire marketplace had looked at her like she was a monster.
Staying here wasn't an option.
And deep inside her chest, a tiny spark fearful, but hopeful flickered to life.
She placed her hand in Aldric's.
He closed his fingers around hers, steady and warm.
"Good," he said quietly. "Your new world awaits."
And as they walked away from the marketplace, the villagers parted like water, silent and wide-eyed.
For Lyra Vane, everything she had known…
everything she had been…
Ended.
And her life as a hidden mage
one the world had not seen in four centuries
Had just begun.