“Masamune Lei was the first high priestess in the Zephyrian Order.  She sealed away the evil goddess Xianta a thousand years ago,” Niko yawned as she spoke and twisted a stray strand of her fucia hair around her finger.  Elder Miyaye looked down her nose at the six-year-old.

“Miss Niko, I’d prefer if you actually understood what I was teaching you instead of simply parroting back what your mother read to you from the history books.”

“I’m not parroting, and Mother didn’t read it to me.”

“Your father then, it hardly makes a difference.”

“Nooo!  I read it myself!”  Niko slammed her hands down on the desk and rose from her chair.  She was big for her age but still much too small to stand eye to eye with her private tutor.  Elder Miyaye grabbed hold of one of the girl’s wrists and twisted it up over Niko’s head.

“Don’t you ever lie to me like that!  You hear?!”

“’m not lyin’!”  Niko shouted as she attempted to writhe out of Miyaye’s grip, “Stop!  You’re hurting me!”

“Admit your lie and I will,” Miyaye said in a suddenly calm tone, “We both know those books are much too difficult for you.”

“No!”  Miyaye twisted her arm harder.  “Okay!  My brother told me!”  She released Niko’s arm and the young girl fell to the floor.

“See, Miss Niko, doesn’t it feel better to tell the truth?”

“… no,” she muttered under her breath before wiping the tears from her face and running from the room.

Niko’s mother, Masamune Leyla, was the most important person in the city of Zephyr.  She was the thirty-ninth Zephyrian High Priestess, and, like all of the previous high priestesses, a direct descendent of Masamune Lei.  Elder Miyaye had the unenviable task of preparing young Niko to take her mother’s place one day.  Niko wasn’t exactly pleased with the situation either.  She was a bright girl, but had little interest in the usual duties of a high priestess.  They were almost exclusively ceremonial, as the majority of the decision making in the church was preformed by the elders.  Instead, Niko preferred to read epic stories about grand adventures, and, while many girls her age would have wished to be a princess, Niko wanted to be the knight… or perhaps the dragon.

She had never been allowed outside the city; in fact, she had rarely traveled beyond the walls of her mother’s temple.   As a result, Niko had gotten into the habit of climbing up to the top of the tallest towers in the temple in hopes of catching a glimpse of the outside world.  From up there she could see far out over the rest of the city and, beyond that, the forests, mountains, and ocean (depending on which way she looked).  Niko’s favorite tower was the easternmost one where one could see the ocean and sunrise if you got up early enough.  As an added advantage, the east tower was the least used and made an ideal hiding spot when she was skipping out on her lessons.  Sometimes she had snuck books out of the library to read up there, and had accumulated a small collection of adventure stories and the odd magical textbook.   

One particular winter morning Niko found herself in the library in search of new reading material.  She had been wanting to sneak into the back room, where books on black magic and other undesirable material was kept, but she usually couldn’t risk it while under the watchful eye of Aryll, the librarian.  Niko was actually quite fond of Aryll and didn’t want to get her in trouble.  Today, however, the library was empty.  Niko waited until no one was watching and quietly slipped into the library.  

       The whole room was dark and Niko had to feel her way through until her eyes began to adjust to the low light.  She found her way to the unassuming door in the back marked “Authorized Personnel Only.”  She turned the doorknob and pushed on the door, which turned out to be much heavier than it looked, and the hinges let out a terrible squeal.  She froze.  There was silence, except for the sound of her own heart; it suddenly sounded incredibly loud.  Niko began to fear that someone might hear it as well, but no one seemed to be coming.  She squeezed through the small gap she had made.
  
       The space inside was even darker than the rest of the library, and very dusty.  Niko channeled mana through the palm of her hand and  it began to glow.  The light wasn’t very bright, but it was enough to see where she was going and tell one book from another.  She crept through the aisles of book cases until she found one labeled “Sorcery,” and pulled down the biggest and thickest book she could reach.  The spine read, in an elaborate and decorative script, “Magical Theory and Application as They Relate to Nai’kan Elemental Magiccraft.”  It seemed rather difficult, but Niko was confident in her ability to understand it.  She tucked the book under her arm and snuck back to the easternmost tower.