Slowly, the vast chamber of the Imperial Mage Assembly filled to its brim. New colors rippled
through the gathered ranks as three more towers arrived in disciplined formations.
First came the Wind Mage Tower, their robes pale silver, embroidered with curling streaks of jade
thread that shimmered like gusts of air.
Their Tower Master was a wiry man with sharp cheekbones and eyes like clear sky, his hair a cascade of silver-white streaming halfway down his back. Every step seemed almost weightless, as if the marble floor itself exhaled to carry him forward.
Beside them arrived the Earth Mage Tower. Their robes were deep brown and moss green, heavy
fabrics that seemed carved from stone and soil.
The Earth Tower Master was a broad-shouldered woman with skin the color of sunbaked clay, dark eyes glinting with steady strength beneath a crown of tightly coiled braids adorned with gems like river pebbles.
