Page 51 of The Freedom You Seek

“Amplifier became increasingly rare and are very coveted among Wielder,” Dion said, and his conclusion dragged my thoughts back from examining him to the topic at hand.

It sounded like a fantasy to me. But if I took everything he’d told me at face value, Dion’s earlier reaction would have been perfectly normal for him. He must be jealous of Thain and of his access to my presumed Potential.

There was a hint of sadness in me when I realized that if I truly possessed such Potential, it’d be fire.

Although I had no problems with Thain or knew of any other Fire Wielder, Dion and I had developed a surprisingly good relationship after our rocky start—even if there had been a few hiccups from time to time, like the one earlier—and I believed we had the compatibility to work together harmoniously.

“Maybe he was mistaken. I don’t feel anything magical inside of me.”

“No, I don’t believe he’s wrong. Don’t forget, we found you because of Antas’ dream, without having a single clue what your role in all of this could be—it makes only sense there’s a significance to you.”

“You mentioned Amplifier have become rare. Was that different at some point? And why did it change?”

“Jama, do you really want to get a history lesson now? There’s a lot you don’t know, and what I’ve told you so far was already too much for you to safely digest, according to the frown lines on your forehead. I don’t know if you can cope with it if I tell you more or if it wouldn’t be wiser to wait a day or two,” Dion said, and he was completely calm at last, much to my relief. Obviously, lecturing me distracted him from his anger and misery.

My mind did indeed swirl in circles, but my curiosity burned with a hunger that yearned to be satisfied. “I can cope. Just answer my questions.”

Dion hesitated, then acknowledged my wish with a curt nod. “Amplifier were much more common two centuries ago when Ivreia and Galanta were still connected by portals. But those travel gateways had been closed during the Ivreian-Galantan War, and the Ivreian leadership did everything in their power to erase the knowledge of magic and the existence of Galanta and its inhabitants. It was an enormous shift for the magical community as well as—”

“Wait, wait—what?” I gaped at Dion with my mouth hanging open and had no regrets that I‘d interrupted him, even though he hated it with a passion when someone cut him short—but I couldn’t care less about hisunnecessary sensitivitieswhen he’d just dropped such a bomb on me. “Half of what you’ve said doesn’t make any sense to me. I’ve never heard of a place called Galanta or that Ivreia as a whole was involved in a war. Individual countries fighting each other, yes, but theentire world?”

“You’ve already accepted that the Ivreian royalty did their best to change and erase history. The war I’ve mentioned was the catalyst for that. Nowadays, you only hear about Galanta in odd legends and rare folktales,” Dionsaid, displaying more patience than he was normally capable of. “You could think of Galanta as an identical twin world to Ivreia. Its shape and the location of countries, landmarks, and capitals are the same. Mountains and rivers are almost identical, yet both worlds aren’t on the same plane of existence. This phenomenon has been called mirror worlds by experts and scholars, even though, strictly speaking, nothing is mirrored but duplicated. Anyway, flora and fauna are different, as are the dominating species. Ivreia is ruled by humans, while Galanta is inhabited by fae, a species akin to humans but not alike. So don’t be mistaken, even though there are a lot of similarities between the two, you’d never confuse a human for a fae based on their physical appearance alone.”

“Oh, I heard that term in an old children’s story that my grandmother read to me ages ago.” The surprise in my voice was evident. Dion spoke with such conviction that I caught myself believing every word he said. If it would bite me in the ass later, the joke was on me, but I didn’t care. My skin tingled all over as one of my biggest dreams came true—discovering what happened to all the history that had been lost.

“Yes, no matter how hard someone tries to erase the truth, there are always some who are dedicated to preserving the knowledge. Fewer and fewer people in Ivreia know what’s true with each passing winter, and only the magical community of Ivreia is trying to keep the knowledge alive—and that’s nearly extinct as well. I believe in another two centuries at the latest—much less, probably—no onewill know of all this anymore, and magic will be dead as well. That is, if nothing changes.”

“And you’re absolutely sure all of this is true?”

“Yes, I am,” Dion said, and I believed him. Rewi would laugh herself silly if she knew—Nayana, the eternal skeptic, reformed.

“That’s…unbelievable.”

“I can just guess how it feels to find out that you’ve been lied to all this time. However, there are still books. As I said, a few people always commit their lives to preventing the complete eradication of knowledge. Maybe we can get our hands on something written for you.”

“I’d like that. But if not, you can tell me everything you know, can’t you?”

“There’s more I can tell you, of course. But not now, or you’ll keel over from mental overload.”

In the light of all the revelations, I’d totally forgotten how Dion had pushed me away earlier. Another worldandanother species, the same and yet alien. It was so much more than I’d ever believed.

My mind drifted back to Rewi and her conspiracy theories. With shame, I had to admit to myself that not all of what she believed was too far off if Dion was telling me the truth.

The yearning to reunite with my friend and reveal everything I’d learned so far to her burned in my chest with the fire of a thousand suns. She would be delighted to no end to get confirmation—and then she would mock me eternally for not believing her.

Dion was right; I needed some time to digest everything, and so I changed the subject despite having a million more questions. They had to wait, or my brain would implode. “You’ve also promised to teach me some self-defense. After what had happened, I’d better start training sooner rather than later.”

“I will.” Dion nodded, then shifted his weight from one side to the other, and his hands tightened around mine. “How was it for you?”

From the way his jaw clenched and his muscles locked, I could tell what he meant byit. I glanced at my feet as Dion clutched my hand with ever increasing intensity.

“It felt weird. As if something was pulling at me from the inside. From one second to the next, I got dizzy and felt so tired that I thought I’d faint. It was as if my energy was drained completely from the inside and out simultaneously.” I glanced at Dion, who was grinding his teeth.

“Tell him he’ll have to be more careful if he wants to continue taking from your Potential, as hard as it is for him to do anything in moderation. Although, it’s up to you whether you’ll allow him access or not, Jama. You can just tell him to fuck off. If he doesn’t respect that, he’ll be in a whole lot of trouble with me.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” I chuckled lightly to combat the darkness that had crept into Dion’s expression, and when he nodded, his face serious, I just grinned. “Of course you would. Sometimes, you’re just so predictable.”

Dion ignored my teasing. “So, will you tell Thain no? If he tries to disregard your wishes, Iwillteach him why that’s the worst decision he could ever make.”