All's Fair in Love & Magic

Chapter One

The Great War of Ages was nearing its end when the Immortals were made—or cursed, depending on the view. There were three of them, beautiful and handsome, talented creatures with the Gift. They had no say in this, no one told them what had been decided, no one even told them why. All they knew was one moment they could die and in the next… they could not, nor did they age.

            Kaius Ka’l Kalantha was the first one to be set to this fate, a woman with extraordinary Wizarding skills, possessing both sides of the magic. She was twenty-five and frozen forever, with blonde hair and violet eyes.

            Ephraim Joseph Bithron followed Kaius’ fate immediately. He was also a Wizard, with natural skills of the light magic and a calling for the dark. Ephraim’s aging was stilled at twenty-six with sandy brown hair and blue eyes.

            Kayla Ann Dalusong was the third and final Immortal sealed to this life. She was an extremely talented Shape-Shifter with abilities never seen before or since. Kayla was forever young at the age of twenty-four, featuring black hair and brown eyes.

            Time passed and the three Immortals watched as their loved ones—Kaius’s brothers, Ephraim’s wife and children, and Kayla’s betrothed—passed while they remained the same. Eventually, there came a time in which they knew no one deeply, other than themselves, they kept only to themselves. The Wizard race died off and the Shape-Shifters abilities diminished. The Immortals were left as the last and greatest.

            The Immortals remained to protect the ever-weakening strains of magic.

* * * 

Over six thousand years after the Great War of Ages, in what someone might call modern times, Kaius stalked the streets of New York. She looked no older, as promised.

            Kaius’ blonde hair fell around her knees and her violet eyes were bright in the light reflecting off the streetlights. She wore black jeans and a long sleeve, blue shirt, with a long, black trench coat with a matching top hat. There was a woman in her sights, shorter than Kaius, with short brown hair and brown eyes. Her outfit consisted of khaki pants, a yellow shirt, and a purple jacket. The Broadway District is where this woman spent most of her time—an actress, from what Kaius was able to gather. A magic wielder.

            Considering that the woman had not noticed Kaius following, she gathered that her powers were undiscovered. Kaius quickened her pace as the woman turned on to 7th Avenue.

            Powerful magic. Something Kaius never felt from anyone, in a form long since departed from the world. Kaius lifted the pamphlet for the play the woman was currently staring in and read her name again: Brandy Maldonado.

            Kaius heard the sound of a snapping branch. It only took her a second to realize that the noise came from beneath her own foot; she was never one for tracking. She jumped from the scene and into the tree that was responsible for the branch before the startled Brandy had time to spot her.

            Brandy turned forward again, pulling her purple jacket tighter around herself. It was late spring and so, uncommonly, cold.

            That was when Kaius made her appearance. She jumped down from the tree and floated to the ground before Brandy.

            Brandy took a step back in surprise. “Who are you?” she demanded, holding her satchel tighter. “What do you want?”

            Kaius smiled and in a big sweeping motion, removed her top hat, bowing dramatically at the waist. “My name is Kaius Ka’l Kalantha.” She straightened and replaced her top hat. “Do you believe in magic, Miss Maldonado?”