The Burning Sky (34 page)

Blood magic does not require the taking of lives or the severing of body parts. Furthermore, its spells, contrary to popular belief, do not drain the body. Only a very minute amount of blood is needed to power a spell, and that blood must come from willing participants. Forcibly spilled blood neither keeps secrets nor binds anyone in oaths.

—From
The Art and Science of Magic: A Primer

 

15
. IT BEARS
remembering that advances in magic do not always follow a linear progression: Some developments commonly regarded as modern are but recent rediscoveries of what had come before. Court physicians for the rulers of Mesopotamia, for example, had formulated entire classes of prophylactic spells. The spells were eventually lost to war, fire, and other ravages of Fortune, but records survived to attest to their miraculous effectiveness.

To consider a more current example, magical historians have argued for years that the venture-book, perhaps the most successful magical application in a generation, is but a commercial adaptation of devices that had been employed for centuries by the House of Elberon to instruct and train its young heirs, especially in times of adversity. Newly unveiled documents concerning the Last Great Rebellion seem to indicate that Prince Titus VII indeed had at his disposal devices that performed many of the functions of present-day venture-books, except better.

—From “Everything Old is New Again,”
The Delamer Observer
,

2 December, Year of the Domain 1151

 

16
. THE COALITION
for Safer Magic and the League of Sensible Parenting—henceforth referred to as the undersigned—hereby petition the Ministry of Education to remove all mentions of mage-to-animal transmogrification from textbooks intended for primary and secondary educational establishments.

Each year, dozens of young magelings, piqued by the allusion in these textbooks, attempt such transmogrifications. They concoct dreadful, frequently toxic potions, misapply spells, and cause fires and explosions at home and at school—not to mention harm to their persons.
In this past winter alone, there has been a mageling unable to breathe normally from having grown gills; another turned nearly blind after acquiring bat vision; and a third who lost all his hair by molting. That the cases have been reversible do not mitigate their severity.

—From Petition No. 4391, lodged with

the Ministry of Education, 21 April, Year of the Domain 1029

 

17
. THE BANE'S
public embrace of mind mages marked a watershed event in his ascendance. Until then, mind mages, even those valued as tools of torture and extraction, had always been kept out of view, not acknowledged and certainly never honored.

But the Bane brought them out into the open and gave them some of the highest offices of his empire. And not just those of Atlantean birth but mind mages from many realms, in the secure knowledge that their first loyalty would always be to him, who elevated them to positions of trust and distinction, and not to the native realms that had treated them with fear and loathing.

—From
A Chronological Survey of the Last Great Rebellion

 

18
. THE POWER
of a potent mind mage is often compared to that of a drill, boring through the skull to reach its quarry. But the truth is slightly more complex. In a probe, the mind of a mind mage, though dominant, is in a sense as exposed as the mind of its prey, as vulnerable as it is devastating.

—From
The Art and Science of Magic: A Primer

 

19
. AS ANYONE
who had read a story of misunderstanding knows, overhearing part of a conversation, without the proper context, can lead to devastatingly mistaken conclusions.

For that reason, among seers, those who see future in long, unbroken stretches are considered far more gifted than those to whom only quick flashes are revealed, as short, chaotic glimpses are much more prone to misinterpretation, if they can be deciphered at all.

Even rarer are seers who can view the same set of future events repeatedly, allow them to notice greater texture and details with each iteration. Such visions become the most unambiguous signposts along the otherwise unpredictably swerving road that is the forward progress of time.

—From
When Will It Rain and How Much: Visions Both Luminous and Ordinary

 

20
. IT IS
difficult to predict how powerful a child elemental mage will become. A toddler elemental mageling who can shift the foundation of a house in a rage may be able to lift no more than a quarter-ton block of stone as an adult.

Sometimes the reverse is true. An elemental mage who can move no more than a quarter-ton block of stone under normal circumstances may very well manage to lift something twenty times heavier when his or her life depends on it.

—From
The Lives and Deeds of Great Elemental Mages

 

21
. THE WYVERN
is the rare carnivore that consents to being domesticated. But wyverns born in captivity tend to be slower and less ferocious. This is fine for mages who wish to keep wyverns as pets, but unsatisfactory for mages who race wyverns or for those looking for a fierce guard dragon.

Wyverns born and raised in the wild and subsequently tamed are, therefore, far more desirable. It has become the established practice of stable masters to sneak eggs from their prized wyverns into the aeries of feral wyverns, then later track down the juvenile wyverns at a stage just short of maturity to tame and bring back into the fold.

—From
The Dragon Watcher's Field Guide

 

22
. THE ESTABLISHMENT
of a permanent no-vaulting zone requires a heavy initial investment of time—it cannot be hurried. The setting up of a temporary no-vaulting zone, however, requires not time, but labor.

A few friends on a camping trip can manage a temporary no-vaulting zone around their tent in about an hour. A few dozen friends can do the same for a small public park, to have themselves a party—provided they first secure the permits, of course. Armies, with their much larger number of mages on hand, have been known to turn small cities into temporary no-vaulting zones overnight.

—From
The Art and Science of Magic: A Primer

 

23
. THE GOLDEN
age of elemental magic is generally considered to have ended nearly a millennium ago with the passing of Leopold Sidorov and Manami Kaneshiro, who spent their careers in a virulent rivalry and died in a duel that killed both, along with a number of unfortunate spectators.

Hundreds of years went by without the next truly great elemental mage coming along. It had become accepted wisdom that another one would never be witnessed when Hesperia the Magnificent came into her powers, one of the greatest among the great.

It rather gives us hope that we might yet see an immensely formidable elemental mage in our lifetime.

—From
The Lives and Deeds of Great Elemental Mages

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Kristin Nelson, for the six drafts we went through together.

 

Donna Bray, for knowing the way to perfection. It's a destination that one never reaches, but I had no doubt she set me on the right path.

 

Everyone at Balzer + Bray, for their incredible dedication and expertise.

 

Colin Anderson, for the smashing cover art.

 

Erin Fitzsimmons, for the genius art direction.

 

Janine Ballard, for the invaluable read.

 

Flannery Keenan, for her honest opinion.

 

Dr. Margaret Toscano, for the fantastic Latin spells.

 

Maili Ryan, for her peerless fact-checking skills.

 

Ivy Adams, for all the laughter.

 

My family, for giving me both the support and the space I need. A special thank-you to my firstborn, the most unwavering champion anyone could ask for—and a pretty darn good fanboy besides.

 

And if you are reading this, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SHERRY THOMAS
immigrated to the United States from China when she was thirteen and taught herself English in part by devouring science fiction and romance novels. She is the author of several acclaimed novels in that genre and is the recipient of two RITA Awards. When not writing, she thinks about the zen and zaniness of her profession, plays computer games with her sons, and reads as many fabulous books as she can find. Sherry lives with her family in Houston, Texas. You can visit her online at www.sherrythomas.com.

 

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CREDITS

Cover art © 2013 by Colin Anderson

Cover design by Erin Fitzsimmons

COPYRIGHT

Balzer + Bray is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

 

The Burning Sky

Copyright © 2013 by Sherry Thomas

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Thomas, Sherry (Sherry M.)

    The burning sky / Sherry Thomas. — First edition.

        pages    cm

    Summary: “A young elemental mage named Iolanthe Seabourne discovers her shocking power and destiny when she is thrown together with a prince to lead a rebellion against a tyrant.”—Provided by publisher.

    ISBN 978-0-06-220729-6

    EPUB Edition JULY 2013 ISBN 9780062207319

    [1. Fantasy.] I. Title.

PZ7.T3694533Bu 2013

2013014504

[Fic]—dc23

CIP

AC

13   14   15   16   17      LP/RRDH      10   9   8   7   6   5   4   3   2   1

First Edition