Chapter One

Hayden and his mother were sitting on a bench in the park, watching the sky grow steadily darker. Dark storm clouds lined the horizon, and the wind picked up, chilling Hayden to the bone. A flash of lightning illuminated the clouds, and a soft, low rumble of thunder hung in the air. It reminded Hayden of the night that his father left him, nine years ago. He shuddered at the memory and wrapped his arms around himself, trying to warm up. Hayden’s mother sat beside him, a faraway look in her eyes. Hayden wondered if she was remembering the same thing.

“What’re we going to do, Mother?”, he asked, turning to face her. His mother startled out of her thoughts.

“I– I don’t know Hayden. I didn’t expect us to– to get evicted.”, she told him, looking away.

Hayden sighed and looked around the moonlit park. The trees swayed in the wind, sending ominous shadows dancing across the ground. The park was quiet and lonely, with a vast forest lying just behind it.

‘Anything could be in there.’, Hayden thought, a shudder running down his spine.

“We can’t just stay here. We need to go somewhere.”, Hayden told her. He heard his mother sigh before turning to him with a strained smile.

“I’ll think of something.”, she replied.

Ever since his father left, his mother had been different. She had to work two jobs to support them, but it wasn’t enough to keep the house. Hayden’s mother became busy and easy to anger. She looked unhealthily pale, with dark circles under her eyes. She barely smiled anymore, and, late at night, Hayden could hear her cry. She became frail, fragile, and sleep deprived. Hayden knew it wasn’t her fault, but it almost felt as if his mother was pushing him away.

“Go get some sleep.”, she told him after a while, getting off the bench.

“I’ll take the ground today.”.

Hayden didn’t protest, not wanting to upset her. He laid down on the bench and stared at the sky, watching the stars. The wind was stronger now, whipping his hair around. Sharp, cold raindrops fell against his face. Memories jumped back to Hayden, no matter how hard he tried to push them away. He remembered the storm, howl of the wind, the crash of thunder. He remembered the yelling and crying and the slam of the front door. Above all, he remembered that brilliant flash of golden light into which his Father disappeared into. An idea suddenly struck him, like lightning.

‘Serania. Father went to Serania, and we could go there too.’, he realized.

It was the perfect place to go. Father had said that Serania is where they belonged. Surely there was a place for them there.

Hayden pushed himself off the bench and kneeled beside his mother, shaking her awake.

“Mother! Wake up!”, he whispered loudly. She muttered under her breath and shifted away from him.

“Go back to sleep, Hayden.”, she mumbled.

“This is important.”, he insisted.

“If this is about where we’re going to go, then I’ve already made my decision. We’ll…go to the house of a coworker of mine. She’ll probably let us stay there with her and her family.”.

“But you don’t know whether she’d let us stay or not.”, Hayden asked. All of his instincts told him to let it go, to not push his mother any further. He ignored them all, because this wasn’t an opportunity he was going to let go without a fight.

His mother didn’t reply.

“Mother”, Hayden urged.

“Why would you take that risk, when we could just go to Serania.”.

Mother stiffened immediately. Hayden flinched away, knowing that he pushed too far. He squeezed his eyes shut and mentally prepared himself for a lecture. It never came. Hayden opened his eyes to see his mother getting ready to go back to sleep, her eyes already closing.

“Go back to sleep, Hayden.”, she repeated, her voice soft and thin.

“You’ll need it.”.

Hayden returned to the bench, feeling terrible. He heard his mother sniff softly, and he felt worse. He dug his fingernails into his palms, hating himself for making her cry.

‘Ignore it. Forget it. Let it go.’, he thought, trying to push Serania from his mind.

‘Just go to sleep.’

But even as he fell asleep, thoughts of his father and the world of Serania haunted his dreams.

****

“Hayden. Hayden!”. Hayden opened his eyes to see his mother hovering over him, shaking him awake.

“Mother…?”, he mumbled, yawning and stretching. He saw that the moon was still high in the sky, and the stars were still visible. It didn’t look like morning was coming anytime soon.

“Thank goodness you’re awake. Hurry, now, we don’t have much time.”, his mother urged, standing up and starting to walk away. Hayden clumsily stood up and began to follow her, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes.

“Where are we going?”, Hayden asked, catching up to her.

“Home.”, she replied, looking straight ahead, her voice tight. Hayden kept it at that, and continued to follow her without any trouble. The mud squelched and stuck to his shoes at every step. The ground was damp and the air felt humid, but the rain and wind had stopped.

They walked on sidewalks, turned corners, and crossed roads until Hayden finally recognized where they were going: to the diner that Hayden’s mother worked at. A neon sign said ‘Donald’s Diner’ glowed.

“What are we doing here?”, Hayden demanded, whirling towards his mother with fists clenched. What is she going to do?

‘If she’s going to walk in there and ask a coworker if we could stay with them, or if she’s planning to work here twenty-four hours a day, then I’m going to walk right back to the park.’

Hayden’s mother did neither of those things.

“We won’t be here long.”, she said simply, turning towards a metallic blue motorcycle that was parked at the curb.

“What do you mean–”. Hayden stopped mid sentence when he saw his mother raise her hand into the air. A moment later, her fingers glew a dull, serene shade of purple. A streak of purple shot out of her fingers and wrapped around the motorcycle, and a second later, it roared to life.

“You can do magic. Like Father.”, Hayden said, his voice hushed in awe. His mother turned towards him sharply, her eyes glowing purple.

“We’ll discuss this later. We don’t have much time. Get on.”, she ordered.

“I don’t know how to ride!”.

“Leave that to me.”.

Hayden hopped onto the motorcycle, nearly falling off. His mother climbed on behind him, and more streaks of purple wrapped themselves around the handlebars of the motorcycle.

‘VROOM! VROOM!’

And then they were off.

The wind roared in Hayden’s ears and stung his eyes. They were traveling impossibly fast; faster than they should be. A haze of purple smoke cocooned around him and his mother, separating them from the rest of the world. His mother was sitting right behind him, and she was glowing. Her body was outlined with purple light, making her look unearthly and divine.

“We’re almost there!”, his mother called to him through the wind. Her voice sounded different, too. It was deeper and stronger, and sounded like ten people were talking instead of one.

Hayden felt them slow down, and the purple haze around them dimmed. The motorcycle came to a stop, and he stumbled off. He leaned against a street light, trying to calm himself down.

When he looked up again, he nearly choked. His mother had taken him to their old house, the one they lived at before his father left.

“Why?”, he asked after a stunned silence.

“This is the closest place.”, she snapped. Now that Hayden looked closer, he could see that his mother looked…older somehow. More tired.

“What is going on, Mother? Don’t I deserve to know.”, Hayden retorted.

‘What’s going to happen to me?’, he wondered, taking a step back from his old house, from his mother. It was not that he didn’t trust her; he didn’t trust magic, or the person she’d become.

“Hayden, please.”, his mother begged him.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been the best mother. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you this before. But we can’t have this conversation right now. We don’t have much time. All you have to do is take my hand and let me lead you to Serania. Then, I’ll explain everything.”.

She extended a glowing hand towards Hayden, and he took it after a moment of hesitation, his curiosity overpowering his fear. Their hands connected with a jolt of electricity. A thrill shot through Hayden, and his mother’s purple glow consumed him. His mother raised her hand to the air, and drew an invisible eight in the air. Static buzzed in his ears, impossibly loud, and his stomach flipped; a sensation like riding down a roller coaster.

The last thing he remembered was the world turning upside down, before he was blinded by a flash of bright white light.

****

When Hayden opened his eyes again, he felt soft grass beneath him. He jolted up, looking around frantically for his mother. He felt a soft hand on his shoulder.

“I’m right here. Calm down.”. Hayden turned to see his mother standing beside him.

“Where are we?”, he asked. He looked around to see they were on a grassy hill. It was daytime, and the air smelled fresh and sweet. He already knew where they were, but he wanted to hear her say it.

Hayden’s mother wasn’t glowing anymore, but she looked younger and healthier than before. She sighed deeply and looked away, but not before Hayden saw the soft smile on her face.

“You’re in Serania now. Welcome home.”.

His mother summoned her magic, making her fingers and eyes glow purple. She held out a hand for Hayden to hold, and he took it. Hayden saw a flash of white light, and the next thing he knew, he was standing in a small room. The entire place was coated with a thick layer of dust, and it was completely empty.

“This used to be my home, before I came into the mortal world.”, he heard his mother say.

“As you can probably tell, it wasn’t cleaned in a very, very long time.”. Hayden smiled softly to himself, running his fingers along a wall.

“This is brilliant.”, he said, wiping his dusty fingers on his trousers. His mother put her hands on her hips and looked around with a grin.

“That’s one word to describe it, I suppose. Let’s go downstairs. I have a lot of explaining to do.”.

Hayden followed his mother down the stairs to what seemed to be the living room. It was tiny, even smaller than his room in his old apartment. His mother pointed a purple finger at the room, and a puff of bright purple smoke blew all the dust away. She took a seat at a small sofa in the middle of the room, and Hayden promptly sat beside her. There was a moment of silence as Hayden’s mother took a deep breath, a serene look on her face.

“It’s been so long since I’ve been here. I had no idea I’d miss it so much.”, she said with a sigh.

“Mother…”, Hayden said, urging her to explain. She laughed at his impatience.

“As you can probably tell, my family wasn’t very wealthy.”. His mother gestured to the room.

“Growing up, I was never content with my way of life. I wasn’t wealthy, nor was I a very powerful sorceress. So when I fell in love with your father, I convinced him to leave Serania behind for the mortal world.”.

“Didn’t he want to come with you?”, Hayden asked her.

“No, he didn’t. Unlike me, he was born into a wealthy family, and he was a very powerful sorcerer. He had it all; he was completely content with the life he was living. He was better off living in Serania, anyway.”. There was an awkward silence.

“Why did you go back to our old house?”, Hayden asked, finally.

“When a sorcerer first comes into the mortal world, they can use their powers whenever they want to, wherever they want to, but after not returning to Serania for about a year or so, our magic begins to be limited”, she explained.

“But we are magic by blood, and nothing can change that. After spending a long time in the mortal world, we can only use our magic during the night, at very special locations. The location of our house was one of them. That’s why I took you there.”.

“So you’re a sorceress.”, Hayden breathed, looking down at his own fingers.

“Am I a sorcerer? Can I do magic too?”. Hayden’s mother smiled at him and took his hand, transmitting her purple glow to him. She gave his hand a soft squeeze before letting go.

“Yes, Hayden, you can.”, she told him.

“What color will they be? Purple? Or gold like Father’s?”, he asked.

“Finger Glow…is a complicated matter. It is said to be genetic, but it is not confined to it. It is possible for your Finger Glow to be something other than the Finger Glow of mine and your father’s.”, she told him.

“But, a sorcerer’s powers are defined by their Finger Glow. White is the weakest, and purple is just above it. Gold is a very powerful Finger Glow; one of the most powerful. It is possible to have more than one Finger Glow; it’s rare, but not impossible.”.

“Is gold the most powerful?”, Hayden asked.

Since he was seven years old, Hayden promised himself to never, ever be or want to be anything like his father. Now, at sixteen, his promise was broken.

‘I hope my Finger Glow is gold.’, Hayden wished, feeling ashamed of himself.

“Yes.”. Hayden looked down at his fingers, concentrating. He tried to call upon some energy that’s hidden deep inside of him, but nothing came.

“How do I do magic.”, Hayden growled, frustrated.

“You can’t do magic until you earn your Finger Glow at the ceremony. It’s a good thing that the school year is just about to start here. I’ll have to enroll you right away.”.