“Starfarers, those great explorers who’ve travelled the universe and unearthed the secrets of mana. The shining few who’ve made such groundbreaking discoveries that their feats have propelled the entire alliance space forward. Advancing the myriad civilisations to heights once thought impossible.

  “Above these heroes stood one man, one man whose legend reverberated through the universe. Whose sword could sunder stars. Whose name was etched into the very fabric of the universe, his name? Felix Noverin…”

  “HAHAHAHA!” With a sense of dread, Felix turned around to see two familiar people sprawled out on his doorway. They were desperately gasping for air while clutching their stomachs, laughing. Felix could feel his entire face heat up, his ears felt like they were on fire, and he was pretty sure that if he had access to mana, his cheeks would be glowing.

  “Reverberate through the universe, hahaha.” Lara wiped a tear from her eye as she parroted back his words. Grandma held her laugh just long enough to straighten her back and stare off into the distance. She dramatically repeated, “His name? Felix Noverin”.

  That immediately sent them both into another fit of laughter. To Felix, their laughter felt like little daggers mercilessly attacking the last dregs of his dignity.

  “What are you doing in my room? Get out! Get out! Get out!” His outburst won him another fit of laughter as his voice cracked and came out half an octave too high. Paired with his reddened cheeks, Felix had little hope of intimidating the duo. After what felt like an eternity, Grandma Eleanor finally managed to choke down her laughter long enough to respond.

  “We came to see if you’re ready to go. Damien will be here any minute to pick us up, and little Lara’s been anxiously waiting for you to join us downstairs for over an hour. We wanted to see if you needed help with anything. I didn’t think we’d be interrupting a future Starfarer’s autobiography.”

  Lara, who’d just managed to drag herself off the floor while clutching her aching ribs, nearly lost it again at Grandma’s jibe. It took monumental effort, but she barely managed to save herself the agony and Felix the embarrassment.

  Felix, too ashamed to look them in the eye, quickly rattled off a response in hopes of getting them to leave. “Yeah, I’m ready, let me grab my things and I’ll meet you downstairs.” Fortunately, Grandma and Lara realised that he’d never get anything done while they were around, so they gave him some privacy.

  Felix quickly shut his door behind them, eager to have the separation. He leaned his back against his door and grabbed his hair before letting out a groan. He knew they’d never let him live this one down. A fact further emphasised when he could hear them break out into laughter again, even before they reached the stairs.

  Well, now he had one more reason to look forward to the Ways.

  ‘Hopefully Lara will take pity on me and not rub it in, and surely Grandma will forget about it by the time she sees us…’

  “Ugh, who am I kidding? By the time we set sail, the whole family will probably have a transcript of the thing.”

  Eager to find a distraction, Felix looked around the room, trying to remember what he was doing before he got caught up in his grand monologue. His suitcase was still open on the bed next to the letters.

  ‘That was it, wasn’t it?’

  He walked over to pick up the letters with a smile on his face. A couple of months ago, these letters made his stomach churn. His last chance to reunite with his family before he left to travel the Ways went up in smoke.

  Another border skirmish meant Claire was assigned a last-minute emergency mission, and his parents had to deal with another influx of refugees turned pirates.

  Holding the letters, he now only felt a bubbling excitement in his chest. Say what you will about Grandma, but the old fox could turn a funeral into a festival. He still had no idea how she pulled it off, but somehow she’d arranged a trip off-world for his birthday.

  To someone who didn’t grow up on a homeworld, that might not sound like a big deal, but anyone else would marvel at the feat with the awe it deserves.

  Due to that one trip, Felix spent the last couple of months recounting their marvellous adventure to anyone and anything that would listen.

  Certainly a step up from moping around the house, depressed over not getting a send-off.

  Felix could swear that his first memory was of him and Lara cooking up harebrained schemes to get off-world. No one ever explained why they couldn’t go, just like no one would explain how carriages, pictures or even his bedroom lights worked. Nope, they’d just give some vague explanation about mana, not being old enough and waiting until your first journey.

  You could not begin to imagine the torment a curious mind goes through knowing of the countless secrets just barely out of your reach. All the stories, all the games you play, all of them taunt you, hinting at what’s out there while you’re not allowed to know simply because you’re too young.

  That is why what grandma did was so amazing; she somehow broke every rule to give them just a little peek into that forbidden world. She showed them magic.

  Felix chuckled a little to himself, letting his thoughts drift back and remember how mad he was at Grandma for waking him up in the early hours of his birthday. He thought she was just pulling some lame prank to cheer him up by throwing a party at such a ridiculous time.

  It wasn’t until they’d boarded a little gondola, both kids still in their pyjamas, that Felix realised something was off. He had no idea where the little boat came from, but he was sure that it didn’t belong in one of the little canals that ran through their neighbourhood. The stream it sat in was just barely deep enough to float the rickety little thing.

  Not that that was a problem for very long, as soon as grandma made sure the coast was clear, she hopped on the back and started paddling. Before Felix had the time to question why his beloved grandmother had seemingly lost her marbles at this particular ungodly hour, the gondola started drifting without issue.

  Logic told Felix that the little gondola would barely move before getting stuck. Fortunately, the little boat’s logic was as worn out as the rest of it. The flimsy little thing happily started floating, not on water as any decent boat ought to, no, instead it happily started floating up into the air as if it were totally normal for boats to do so.

  Felix could only sit there, completely dumbfounded at what was happening. Sure, magic existed, but not here, not in the little streams he played in with his friends. Magic was out there in the universe somewhere. It felt like Felix walked into class after a weekend to find out that his maths teacher had suddenly retired and a dragon had filled the position.

  By the time a sudden gust of cool night air brought him back to his senses, the darkness had already swallowed the crisscrossing footpaths of their neighbourhood. Only the lamps of a few night owls and the distant harbour let him know the ground hadn’t vanished.

  Even those disappeared from view as a thick fog suddenly swallowed their little boat.

  Felix’s sleep-addled mind worked in overdrive to catch up with what just happened. Unfortunately, a shivering little girl wasn’t about to allow him any time for quiet contemplation. Neither of them had the time to grab anything warm to wear, so Lara latched onto Felix like a little pink-haired koala.

  “Isn’t this amazing? I can’t believe we’re flying!”

  Trying hard to ignore the fact that Lara’s sudden hug heated his cheeks faster than the rest of him, Felix tried to focus. She was right, they were in a boat, they were actually flying.

  “We have to be the first people to do this before going on our Journey!”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Lara looked back at him with sparkling eyes. The thought was exhilarating.

  Felix decided not to waste any more time trying to figure out what was going on. There’d be time for that later.

  As if to reward his newfound open-mindedness, the fog cleared up to reveal a fluffy carpet of clouds stretching out as far as the eye could see. Felix cautiously peered over the side to see the cloud they just passed through.

  “How is it? Not a bad birthday gift, is it?” Grandma finally spoke up.

  “It’s amazing! Grammie, where'd you get a boat? You won’t get in trouble, will you?” Lara asked.

  “Haha, it’s fine. I managed to call in a couple of favours; we have permission from the overseer as long as no one sees us. Anyway, we need to go a little higher before you can see the really cool stuff, so be a little patient.”

  Soon, their little gondola was orbiting their homeworld, with the breathtaking view ahead of them. Felix had to pinch his cheek to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. They’d actually gone off-world.

  His entire life had taken place on that one blue ball floating in an endless void. It looked so fragile sitting there, its nearest neighbour so unimaginably far away while it made its way through the hostile, infinite black.

  He’d have to be an unfeeling machine to see something like that and not change on some level. It made his problems seem so small; he’d read stories about space, the alliance, Explorers and Travellers. But none of those stories changed the fact that until this very moment, his entire world used to be a small speck on a little ball.

  His entire world had been small enough that he could walk from one end to the other in a day. Until then, his world was large enough to hold everything except his dreams and curiosity.

  It only took a few minutes to step out of that world, but it changed everything. Suddenly, it didn’t matter that he couldn’t have a reunion for his birthday. Why should he wait for his family to come to him if he could go to the stars and see them instead?

  “Ahem, as much as I would like to let you kids keep admiring the view, I’m afraid we are rather limited on time. There’s something else I wanted to show you while we were up here.”

  Felix looked at Lara, not sure why he thought she’d be any less confused.

  “Grandma, you didn’t bring us out here to show us this?” Grandma smirked; they realised that she had intentionally led them to believe this was what they came to see.

  “You two are setting off on your first Journey in a couple of months. Getting to see this a little early would be an underwhelming birthday present, don’t you think? No, I brought you out here to see something way better. I brought you out here so I could show you magic.”

  They stared at her, not really processing what she was telling them. Once it sank in, they were practically hopping with excitement.

  Felix was so excited that he almost didn’t realise something was amiss. Almost.

  “Uhm, Grandma… didn’t you say that we’ll get to see a demonstration from Travellers during the festival?”

  “Cough, uhm, well, yes. But the people who deliver those performances are amateurs. There’s no way some snot-nosed wizard that just graduated could do anything worthwhile. This way, I can show you what a real mage looks like.

  “You kids have always looked up to Claire, so you’ve had your hearts set on becoming knights. Well then, I’ll need to show you that hers isn’t the only path. As a Traveller, you must seek your own way; if you try to copy others, you’ll soon come to a dead end. As long as you continue on your journey and stay true to your path, you’ll eventually find what you’re looking for, no matter what it is.

  “If you want to live forever, if you want to explore creation or swim in the origin river, if you want to become like the heroes in your stories, you’ll have to follow your own paths, not Claire’s, not mine. Yours.”

  After giving them a confident smirk, Grandma stepped off the gondola. Lara tried to leap forward and stop her, but before she could reach her. Grandma took a step, and then another. She began walking in the vacuum of space, as if she were taking a stroll through the garden.

  Grandma glanced back at the boat to ensure her performance had the intended effect. Seeing the look she gave them, Felix managed to close his mouth. Without even needing to look, he reached out and closed Lara’s as well.

  Grandma kept walking, further into the void. Felix thought it would be a difficult thing to do, but she didn’t look like she was under any strain. She looked like a cat that had just woken up from a long nap, languidly stretching with each step as if she hadn’t moved for a long time, and she was trying to get the feel for what moving felt like again.

  When she turned back to the boat, she had a look of relaxation on her face, like she’d just gotten a massage instead of dying like she ought to have.

  “Alright.” Grandma clapped her hands together.

  “As much as I’d like to fling a couple of spells to really show off, little Alex wouldn’t allow it. So instead, you kids will just accompany me on my jaunt. Since I normally do this when the air planet side gets a little stuffy, we shouldn’t draw too much attention.”

  Grandma closed her eyes, and after a moment's pause, she took in a deep breath. When she did, it was as if someone had blown fresh air on dying coals. Her usually dull red hair began to glow a brilliant scarlet. Like smouldering logs given new air, hues of orange and yellow rippled through it, making it look as if she were on fire.

  The air around her warped as waves of heat rolled off her form. When she opened her eyes, their familiar, snarky but loving grandmother was gone. It felt like they were staring at a colossal pillar of fire.

  Despite the distance and the shield keeping the children on the gondola safe, Felix and Lara felt like their faces were burning. Grandma’s eyes looked like two blazing stars; all around her, the world caught fire. Massive plumes of fire stretched out in every direction.

  Felix sat there awestruck, not quite able to believe what he was seeing. Of course, he knew Grandma was a mage, and he knew some of the things mages could do, but he’d somehow never considered what those two things meant together.

  He’d grown so used to Grandma being Grandma that seeing her as a mage left him dumbfounded. That was until Grandma started flexing like she was a bodybuilder, stopping after every pose to wiggle her eyebrows at them as if to affirm that they thought she was cool.

  Felix could only sit back down and groan; naturally, she couldn’t go ten seconds without shattering her budding ‘cool Grandma’ image.

  Lara burst out laughing next to him and started cheering at every new pose Grandma struck. After Felix silently mourned cool Grandma for a few seconds, he looked back up to see that there was now a towering effigy of flame behind her, copying every pose. Truly, to be that powerful and that lame at the same time must be some kind of hidden talent.

  Felix couldn't hold back any longer, image be damned, they were still floating in space and watching Grandma do real magic. He started cheering and laughing along with Lara.

  Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end. Shortly after Grandma and the flame giant started juggling balls of fire, an unfamiliar voice interrupted their fun. “Madam Eleanor, I’m afraid you’ll need to head back.”

  Startled, Felix looked around trying to find the source of the voice, but they were still alone. Grandma clearly recognised the voice, though, as before he knew it, they were back home. The rest of his birthday passed in a blur of excitement as he and Lara shared their secret adventure with everyone who would listen.

  That night, as Felix tried to fall asleep, he realised he just couldn’t look at his home the same way anymore. From then on, he stopped being upset that his family couldn’t make it to his birthday; instead, he felt eager to awaken and join them out there in that world of magic and wonder. Grandma’s scheme worked like a charm; the next two months, he didn’t have time to mope about, and only one thought occupied his mind.

  If Grandma could be that cool as a mage, just how cool would he be if he became a knight? Lara and he would explore the endless mysteries of this vast universe. Uncovering its hidden secrets and treasures, banishing evil with a single swing of their mighty swords.

  One day, he would become the greatest Starfarer this universe has ever seen. A great knight whose sword could sunder stars, whose legend would reverberate, cough.

  The familiar lines were enough to drag him back to the present.

  “Maybe I should head downstairs before I get caught again.”

  Felix grabbed the letters from his bed and quickly stuffed them in his backpack. He took a quick look in the mirror and tried to shift his hair to hide the fact that his ears had outgrown the rest of him.

  Some might describe him as a mousy and slightly awkward-looking child. At least his hazel eyes matched his blond hair; besides what he lacked in appearance, he made up for in confidence.

  He winked at himself in the mirror and murmured, “Looking good, Felix.”

  Grabbing the last of his things, he headed to the door and opened it. Before stepping out, he allowed his eyes to wander across his room one last time.

  He felt a little sad that he wouldn’t be seeing any of it again for a long time. He’d especially miss his bookshelf and little reading nook. Felix had whiled away so many afternoons reading and chatting with Lara. Those books held all the places they wished to explore and the treasures they wanted to find.

  He smiled. Now wasn’t the time to get caught up in those memories, after all, today was the day he’d take his first steps to turn those idle fantasies into reality. He realised that he’d forgotten a dirty cup on his desk, but he defiantly decided to leave it there. Call it a little act of petty revenge for catching him in his speech earlier.

  His eyes lingered on a picture of his family, his dad having taken it the last time everyone could make it back home.

  It was two years ago now, but it was still a fond memory. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to take it along. He quickly swiped the crystal sheet and threw it in his backpack.

  With that, Felix was ready to start his adventure.

  If you want to read up to the end of Volume 1 you can do so on and