"Don't worry sweetie, i know you'll be able to speak soon. Not everybody is same, you're different and you're capable of all great things" Shivani caressed her daughter's cheeks as she sat her down in her lap, the words spinning around her head, not enough to get out of her lips.

Adhya smiled looking up her to her with glossy eyes, and red nose.

"Mama, but even you're not able to speak." The wor...

I part the mess of leaves with a hand, peeking past its cover.

Two sets of eyes, wide, shivering, silent.

I swallow, motioning for them to come out of hiding. They shake their heads, their hands grasped together, their small bodies huddled together in the foliage’s shade.

I sigh, letting loose my grasp of the bush. I step back, sitting down and resting against a wide tree. I open up my pack, ...

I always thought I was normal- a civilian, an invisible, voiceless being. No royal blood, no magic, no voice, if you had magic you were born with it, I wasn't. Or so I thought. My parents couldn't talk either, but they were rich. They looked for all sorts of ways to give me a voice, tonics, spells, "warlock therapy" (yeah that's a thing). Lest I say none of it worked. And so every time I went to m...

The room shows no sign of the magic it contains. Unassuming bookcases stand like soldiers against every wall. A faint glow emits from the thousands of tomes and scrolls, but other than that it all seems very… ordinary.

It is a domed room. Domed and riddled with age. The wooden floor creaks violently even when the mice sprints across in search of some of the rare food left by the Speaker. Some of t...

Their laughs echo through the streets, taunting, teasing those who worshipped them. I watch, staring at them. Staring at thousands of pure beings like me sit ideally by as others are dictated to follow through with the commands of the top tier hierarchy because that is all we could ever do. We are all one, from the same organs to our skin, we have it all, but the mere difference between us that pl...

In a land where silence bound the powerless, every spoken word shimmered with the weight of magic. Only those who wield magic mattered. Those who are mortal lack power--those who have no magic don't speak.

The better you wield magic, the more powerful you are. The more magic you have, the heavier the weight of your words in court.

Thus the saying goes "in court, every story is set in a world whe...

They’re talking, talking and laughing about a joke someone just made. Everyone’s staring at them, jealous. The privileged people are always the loudest ones, maybe because they’re able to talk. They enjoy the freedom of accusing random people of things they didn’t do, just because they can’t protest. They love to embarrass others with their powers, for their own entertainment. Why are they the pri...

The interpreter's job is a thankless one. Magic, like the rest of the nobles, but made to serve others anyway. An interpreter to the servants and peasants is my sole job and purpose in life. Having the ability to read minds is not as flashy as controlling the elements or shape-shifting, but it still holds a lot of power in this world.

What is actually the most fun about this power is that every ge...

Words are magic. Every utterance, every spoken word, every breath is a prayer to the primordial source of mana that underlies the very fabric of reality.

Sometimes, they’re answered.

They speak in tongues now forgotten, knowledge denied to all but a select few. Those few are ones gifted with speech. Blessed by the world, they alone are allowed to commune with the gods. Their prayers answere...

Guess the three most anxiety-inducing words in human history. No, not “I love you,” you harpy. “Check’s in the mail,” no, that’s four words. The three most nerve-wracking, sweat-beading, slight hand trembling, sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach words are: “Don’t be alarmed.” I know because those were the three words Minerva whispered to me just before we reached the door of the “Wizard.”

...