The Root of Magic

Welcome!

Introduction

Hey everyone! I am super excited to be sharing with you my latest project: The Root of Magic. The time has finally come for me to start publishing this! I have now edited this story, so there shouldn't be too many errors left. Don't hesitate to point them out if you find any!

Let me start by sharing a thing or two about this story with you. Firstly, the song above matches The Root of Magic almost perfectly. Especially the lyrics of the verses fit the mindset Destan is in at the beginning of this story. 

Secondly, let me tell you how this story came about. If you follow me, you may have read my novella Whispers Beyond the Forest, which I've written for the Open Novella Contest 2019. It is about a girl who has lost her memories and wakes up in a world where magic is real and the people in her town fear it like the plague. Two groups of people exist that hate one another: non-magic people living in town, and magic people living in a camp in the middle of the large forest at the edge of the town. 

The Root of Magic is set in this same world, except on the other side. Where the main character in Whispers Beyond the Forest did not have magic, the main character in The Root of Magic does. So you get to read about both factions!:) 

I have to say though, after the extensive edit of The Root of Magic, I've had to make some changes to the worldbuilding. This means the world in both stories aren't exactly the same anymore. Still, they're both fun stories and I hope you'll enjoy them. 

Below follows an extended summary and some photos of how I pictured some of the main characters. Enjoy! 

Extended Summary

When Destan Kardos was five years old, he made a mistake. A mistake that cost him everything. 

What that mistake was? He lost control.

In a community, a Tribe, in which every member has powers, control is of the utmost importance. Lose control and people could die. It is among the worst of sins.

And Destan pays for it dearly. The leader of their Tribe, who happens to be Destan's grandfather, has no choice but to make him an Outcast. From that day on, the people around him don't talk to him, they don't look at him, they don't even acknowledge his existence. 

But Destan has other things on his mind. His sister, his beloved little sister, has been taken from him. And he wants nothing more than to have her back. It isn't fair that she was taken away. It isn't fair that she's being made to live in the neighbouring town, with all the other people who don't have magical powers. She's family and she belongs with him, powers or not!

So Destan follows her. For ten years he visits her, watching her grow up from the shadows. She has a new family now, but that doesn't make her any less his little sister. He still wants her back. He still wants his family to be whole again. 

Everything changes when Aruna, the Tribe's trainer in magic, convinces their leader to let Destan fulfil a Task. By doing something important for the Tribe's survival, Destan has a chance to redeem himself. To finally be accepted again. To have everything he ever wanted. 

Almost everything.

When the Task, his sole chance to stop being an Outcast, brings him into contact with his long lost sister, Destan finds himself having to make the most difficult choice of his life. Will he choose his Tribe or will he choose his long-lost sister?

Pictures

Destan Kardos

Nero Winters

Julia Winters

Aruna Asala