Elayna’s a warrior, an archer in the Shadow Guard. Once the revered protectors of Panthera, now the Guard lives in hiding, secretly building strength to fight a king who wants to destroy them. Elayna’s 19, and on the young side for a soldier, but with no shortage of determination, capability, or reasons to fight the usurper king. She’s out for justice—both for the kingdom, and for herself.
Elayna is intensely focused, dedicated to success, sarcastic, and fierce when crossed. She’s also observant, and not-so-secretly kind. Memories of the past are monsters in her mind, banished to the shadows but still lying in wait. The longer she refuses to face them, the more the ice of unfeeling creeps into her heart. Surviving makes you tough but it leaves you scarred, and Elayna has plenty of scars, some visible and some not.
She’d tell you she’s just fine, but…well, we’ll see.

Jakk’s a sketch artist, living a life of quiet exile and feeding his curiosity about his heritage with the stories his grandfather tells of Panthera. He can also create flames with his hands, and weild any weapon with twice the strength of a soldier.
He’s not supposed to, but he can. Jakk inherited a powerful magic from his family. Some call it a sacred gift, but he thinks it might really be a curse.
Living as a Gifted in Arranno—a country mistrusting of magic users, especially those of mixed nationality with Panthera—Jakk’s spent his 19 years as an outcast twice over.
Jakk is compassionate, anxious, and just wants to learn the truth about his magic. But truth-seeking tends to turn stones that were covered for a reason, and with exploration comes a dark danger. He just wants to help, and maybe even belong, but…well, we’ll see.