Preface
The Melech's townhouse sat in the heart of Boston, surrounded by traffic, glass office buildings, and people who stared at phones as they walked down the sidewalk. Outside the windows, the sounds of a normal city could be heard; a car horn sounded and a siren echoed somewhere in the distance.
Inside their house it was a different world. Ancient maps covered the walls. Artifacts older than many nations rested behind enchanted glass. A laptop sat beside a scroll copied by hand four centuries ago. Magic and the modern world living side by side in the Melech household.
For Valyn, that had always felt normal. It inspired her to be like her parents, who were passionate about arcane research. Valyn was trying to follow in their footsteps when the crystal orb glowed bright and moved quickly from her hand.
Not a dramatic movement. No collapsing bookshelves. No magical catastrophe that would someday be taught in history classes. It simply launched itself off a shelf, bounced off a stack of books, struck a globe, and shattered a vase.
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