Tinyrutabaga
Humanity understands magic through one principle above all others: precision.
Magic is dangerous, volatile, and unforgiving. Magic is borrowed. To wield it safely requires discipline, control, and an unwavering respect for rules and boundaries. That belief forms the foundation of human civilization and is the reason those born with magical gifts are recruited into the Wardens, an elite protective order responsible for safeguarding the last human domain of Olympia from the Wilds.
The Wilds are the other magical races, beings through whom magic flows freely and instinctively. They are not kind, they are not forgiving, and they cannot be reasoned with. After a millennium of conflict, humans have survived only through their mastery of Ward magic: powerful protective spells and intricate glyphs that shield Olympia and the last remnants of humanity from a hostile world.
But with the human race now standing on the brink of extinction, one young apprentice may challenge everything humanity believes about magic.
When Elara Lane discovers an affinity for wielding magic through something other than control and precision, she begins to question a thousand years of unquestioned doctrine. What if the Wardens' way is not the only way to survive? What if, instead of merely enduring, humanity could learn how to live?
A student of the Warden Academy, Elara is stubborn, sharp-tongued, and fiercely determined, but she is neither arrogant nor unwilling to learn. That humility may be her greatest strength. Combined with the brilliance of her preceptor Master Callum Winthrop, whose gift for recognizing hidden patterns is matched only by his extraordinary power, Elara's revolutionary understanding of magic could become humanity's last hope.
Or the force that changes their world forever.