Killian Kir’we

Killian is a Wizard from the settlement of refugees that fled the Empire of Eskarya.

Killian was born to a shepherd and a farmer in a place that had once been called Eilador, though of course neither the shepherds nor the young boy ever called it by that name. It was simply home, and it served as an alright one, at least for the moment.

When Killian had grown roughly enough to work the plows, their family gained another member. A man by the name of Elias sought work upon the farm, and was able to display enough competence that he would remain for a few years. He was always joyful, and he had a great many stories that Killian would beg to hear again and again.

But most intriguingly of all, he taught Killian tricks. Tricks to make sounds where there were none, tricks to bend the light in any which way you wanted, tricks that let you lie so convincingly to the world that it believed you. Killian’s parents never liked the tricks, thought they were devilry, so they always did them alone.

And one day, the soldiers came about. There was not a war, as far as Killian knew, but they still said they needed goats and crops. They came into the house, Killian’s house, and began to rifle around for dishware. But when they saw Elias, the mood changed, and they demanded that they be permitted to take the old man back with them in irons. When Killian’s father protested, he received a gauntlet to the cheek and his mother a dagger to the back.

And so, Killian did a trick.

It was a very simple trick, making fire. It was a very easy way of getting a light that wouldn’t burn you. But this time, it was bigger, and stronger, and it burned hot. An inferno erupting, and the shrieks of soldiers and farmers alike as the house went up in flames.

Killian, who knew the fire to be false, did not burn. The same could not be said for the armored brigands, who never considered that their burning alive was fiction. Elias, it seemed, had disappeared. He was not in the house, he had not burned, and he had left Killian to himself.

When the boy tried again, with leafs and with rodents, the fire never so much as curled them, much less beat them black. Curious.