Magical Theory in the Kingdom of Amora:
I knew from the start I wanted The Fate Challenges to have magic. But what kind of magic? Wands? Nope, too Harry Potter-ish. Staffs? Lord of the Rings much? How about magic that comes from within? Yes, that type appealed to me. Then I had to think about what types of people would have these magical abilities.
The people from the Middlelands have magical powers, but their skills are more along the lines of herbs and light spells/curses. Their magic is more down to earth and is similar to what a shaman or herb witch might use.
The Great Beyonders (a.k.a. Norvadians) have magical abilities more in line to those the Royals of Amora have. The Norvadians live in the north, beyond the Great Mountains, and are the product of mating between humans and elves. They inherited their elf forefathers’ magical powers. To not have magic is weird to them, and those born without it are shunned and often forced to leave Norvadia.
Then, there are the Amorans. Only Royals have magic, but they also have an age restriction keeping them from their powers until their eighteenth birthdays. According to Theories of Magic, Royals, and Gods, Maxima the Younger writes, “When Apenth, the God of Prophecy, and Phoenix-Queen Amora had twins, the gods convened to decide what to do about their god-like powers. The gods placed a spell upon the twins, their children, and their children’s children, and so on and so forth, to keep their magical power contained until their eighteenth birthdays.
The gods’ decision is why Royal children cannot perform magic until they come of age.” Not all Royals have the same skills either. Maxima also writes, “Magic comes from within and uses its beholder’s energies. Using too much magic can harm and even kill the sorceress, so Royals must use their magic wisely. Not all Royals have strong magical tendencies either. The strongest ones are always closest to the queen and her direct familial line.”
So using these bases for their types of magic, I have been able to introduce it within the storyline for The Fate Challenges.
What kinds of magic do you like in fantasy stories?
To save a kingdom, a prophetess must challenge Fate.
On the day of Yssa’s death and rebirth, the god Apenth chose her as the Phoenix Prophetess.
Sea serpents and gods endanger the young prophetess’s journey and sour the omens. Yssa is cursed instead of blessed, and her duties at the Temple of Apenth prove it. She spends her days reading dusty scrolls, which does nothing to help her forget Tym, the boy back home. But the annoying yet gorgeous ferryman’s son Liam proves to be a distraction she can’t predict, even though he rarely leaves her alone for two sand grains.
Her boring temple life screeches to a halt when visions of her parents’ murders consume her. Yssa races across an ocean to stop the future. If she can’t change Fate, she’ll refuse to be the Phoenix Prophetess any longer. Fate, however, has other plans for her and the kingdom.
Yssa must either accept her destiny or fight to change Fate.
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A self-proclaimed bookworm, Cherie Reich is a speculative fiction writer and library assistant living in Virginia. Her short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies, and her books include the horror collection Nightmare, a space fantasy novella collection titled Gravity, and the fantasy series The Foxwick Chronicles and The Fate Challenges. Reborn is her debut novel. She is Vice President of Valley Writers and a member of the Virginia Writers Club and Untethered Realms. For more information, please visit her website.
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