Life in the orphanage was a relentless lesson in hardship. Kaelan was the bottom of the barrel, the boy the magic had forgotten. He was bullied, ostracized, and put to the hardest labor.
His only solace was a girl named Lyra. With hair like spun silver and a kindness that defied their grim surroundings, she was his only friend. She possessed a faint, innate light magic, just enough to sometimes soothe his bruises or warm their cold meals. They were two halves of a broken whole, huddled together against the world's cruelty. They swore childish oaths to always stay together.
"You're not nothing, Kaelan," she would whisper, holding his hand tightly. "You're my everything."
For years, he believed her. She was the single point of light in his darkness.