Kim Mirae was born the second child to her family which welcomed another potential Initia to their tribe. Her father was the magister of the tribe and her mother a healer skilled in the control of earth. Mirae grew up alongside her elder brother Daehyun and always looked up to him, he rarely said much but when he did the words were meaningful, she lived for the words her brother spoke and from a young age took them as gospel.

Mirae’s childhood was much different from the average childhood those days thanks to the fact she was raised in an Initia community. Living at the bottom of mountains where they were surrounded by nature, Initia lived a simple life which was focused around the elements and the connections they had to them. Mirae was fascinated by the elements even in her young years, loving to hear stories about all the creatures created by the earth and sharing those stories with those who would listen. Mirae loved to talk and could almost convince anyone of anything if she tried hard enough.

As the young girl aged she tried to find her place in the world around them, she was generally intimidating to the other kids because of her loudspoken and unfiltered nature. It often got her into trouble with others but also made her popular and attracted her friends she relied on. Through her studies she worked hard, she wanted to learn everything there was to know, push herself to the limit so that when her element eventually chose her she was ready to make her father and mother proud.

Mirae was aware of the pressure pushed onto her and her brother’s shoulders but she never let it faze her or sway her from the person she was, she always figured that if she was meant to be an Initia then she would be and if she was only human then she would make her mark on the world in some other way. It became evident quickly that Mirae was smarter than most of her peers and always liked to be one step ahead.

One night, as she laid in her bed restlessly trying to sleep she head her parents talking outside her door, her father spitting out angry words, talking about something called a phoenix. Mirae was confused, she had never heard of a phoenix before but her father sure seemed to hate them, her mother’s voice was soothing, trying to calm her husband down. When the door to her room opened Mirae turned on her side covering herself with the blanket and feigning sleep as she readied herself to research what her father had been speaking of.

Her research brought her to find a book, buried in the library at her learning facility, covered in dust and clearly not having been read for a long time that documented the phoenixes. It explained what they were and how they came to be, though the text seemed angry at the phoenixes, claiming they couldn’t control their power and were reckless. It talked about how phoenixes were an abomination of Initia kind, a stain they were prefer be covered. Afraid someone else would read it she had snuck the book out of the library and returned it to her room, keeping it under her pillow so that she could read it whenever she wished.

Mirae never thought the things she had read would become her reality but several months later she found the very lines described in the book on her arms and legs, spiraling all over her body. From that day she started to wear longer more covering clothes in order to hide what she was. Mirae remembered the way her father had spoken about phoenixes that night and didn’t intend on being thrown out of her community, cast away from her family and friends. She was smart, she told herself, she could keep this hidden until she had a better plan.

Thanks to the book and advanced study, Mirae managed to do well at keeping her powers under wraps, she practiced her control over fire whenever she knew she wasn’t being watched so that she would know what to do should it ever try to get the better of her in public. She found ways to control her breathing and movements to keep the fire at bay and slowly learned to control it to a level that she didn’t need to worry about losing her temper and revealing herself. Mirae thought about telling her brother what she was several times, often going up to his room ready to say it before losing the courage and backing out last minute.

Things however turned out much differently that she expected as she found herself the target of some game one of the older boys was playing to get at her brother, when he grabbed her arm she yelled at him to let her go but knowing she needed to remain in control she went with his motion as he pulled her across the clearing. She had never seen Daehyun get so angry before, a firey red in his eyes as she looked at him which she instantly recognized. She had yelled ‘No’ to warn him not to do it but it was too late as bright golden wings exploded from his back.

Internally Mirae was panicking as they all stared at her brother like he was insane, she knew they would tell the leaders of the tribe and the news would get back to their father, who she already knew for sure wouldn’t take the news well. She was in the midst of debating the next move she should take when her brother swooped down to take a hold of her and pulled her upwards towards the sky. She tried to protest, to explain to him that she already knew what he was but he couldn’t hear her over his own panic.

When he set her down his attention instantly went to the cuff their mother had given him for his birthday one year but she forced him to turn his attention away by rolling up the sleeve of her dress to expose those same red tattoos her bore. “It’s okay, I understand, I am just like you” she assured him that she wouldn’t turn on him though she couldn’t say the same for the rest of the tribe. Daehyun explained to her his story, about how he had turned to their mother for help and how she had granted her protection at the cost of her own safety.

Upon hearing the story Mirae was adamant that they return and get their mother and figure out their next move together. When Daehyun told her it was a suicide wish to go back she was defiant not wanting to let anyone take responsibility for what she was but her. She told him that she would go back for their mother without him and meet him but before she could take another step and fly into the sky she felt a sharp painful blow to the back of her head before she faded into the darkness.

Upon waking she was furious, distraught and felt guilty all at once. She was angry at Daehyun for doing what he did and bringing her here when all she had wanted was to walk back into that place and face the fate she had been given. She knew by now her mother was dead, eyes filling with tears as she thought about how scared she must have been and how it was her fault for not fighting harder to make sure she got out of there. That day broke the very core of her relationship with her brother, shaking the both of them for years to come.

She knew now that it was too late to return. Going back to where they came from would simply tarnish the sacrifice her mother had made and so she stayed. Stayed at the place her mother had instructed her brother to go. She liked the phoenix community, she liked their way of life and the fact that everyone was free to live their life as they wished her. She took up a role in fighting, learning martial arts and becoming skilled at using different weapons, she liked the idea of being strong, even without her inner flame and worked hard. For the most part the training was a distraction for her, a way to move on from the life she left behind and work out the frustration she had from her role in it all.

Through the years she found herself happy in the phoenix community and slowly repaired her relationship with Daehyun, she knew things could never go back to the way they were but she found a way to forgive him and move forward. She made a lot of friends throughout the kindred spirits that found their way to the clan. She liked Coldren, the leader of the group who was kind and encouraged the phoenixes to embrace the people they were. Mirae was close with Unyak, Coldren’s wife, who was like a mother figure to her, teaching her how to use herbs to heal and lending her an ear whenever she needed to talk about her life or frustrations.

The perfect community they had built however was shattered when the Initia found them and attacked their home, smashing up all the buildings and everything they had built before they began killing. The shrieks in the night were harsh as Coldren made the hard and rushed decision to evacuate after Unyak fell victim to the attack. Mirae felt broken, like she had lost her mother all over again. Her body froze and she was sure she wouldn’t make it out of there alive. But Coldren had grabbed her, pulling her from her frozen state and urging her to fly. And they flew, they flew over the seas for what felt like days before they finally found the island and came in to land.

Mirae struggled those first few weeks in the tundra, she didn’t know where to find motivation from any more, they had lost so much and part of her wanted to fight back, blamed the fact they were so passive as to why they had been forced to run and why they had lost so many people. Much like Coldren, she fell quiet for a time, reflecting on what had happened, questioning if she could have done anything to prevent it or at least see it coming. Her questions however went unanswered and her nightmares grew darker and more real.

Despite being some of the youngest members of the phoenix clan, Daehyun and Mirae proved resourceful in helping their people to survive and heal after the battle. They began to rebuild the life they had before in this new landscape. Mirae liked the cold environment better because she knew most people would stay away and they would have the chance to catch their breath before making their next move. Such a move never came however and through time she came to realize the settlement here would become permanent.

When Coldren grew sick Mirae cared for him, returning the favor he had given to her when he invited her into this community and gave her a home after she had lost everything she’d ever know. She worried for him but every bit of reading she had done told her that when he died he would return anew, in a body different from his current one but his spirit would remain. When the clan leader passed however and the clan waited for him to rise again they found that his body was not overwhelmed with the flames of rebirth but instead with a flame that burned cold, a vibrant blue.

Mirae recognized instantly that Coldren’s face was the same as it always was, though his expression was colder, full of what she could only describe as rage as he sank back onto the snow. He preached to the tribe about how he had been given a blessing, a chance to exact revenge for what the Initia had done to his wife and to claim the world in ice. Mirae was skeptical but intrigued by the chance to become something that the world had never even seen before but Daehyun was dead set against Coldren’s plan.

Mirae had given her blessing to her brother to move on without her. She told him that he had done his job of protecting her and that if this wasn’t what he wanted, then he was free to find what it was he did want. He never got the chance however because just as Mirae was about to tell her brother goodbye a blade was thrust through his chest causing the girl to shriek loudly in shock before he fell to the ground. Mirae was furious at Coldren for taking her brother’s choice from him and instinctively drew her sword, moving to strike at the ice phoenix. Coldren however was much stronger and faster than her and it wasn’t long before she went down fighting, falling into the darkness on the icy cold snow.

When she awoke Mirae found herself in a dark room. The chief, punishing her for daring to stand against him left her without her weapons and demanded she take up place in the apothecary. Mirae was angered by everything that had happened but soon learned that fighting back would be fruitless, by now Coldren had surrounded himself with guards, people loyal to him and was already searching for a mate to create what he called ‘Niveis’ of his own. Mirae however did the smart thing and played by the cards she had been given, picking back up the things she had been taught by Unyak. She made friends with the other healers, mostly made up of others that Coldren wanted out of his sight and began to join the whispers.

There couldn’t have been a single person who truly believed their chief was of sane mind, raising two sons whom he constantly pitted against one another in an attempt to rally the clan into a war not all of them wanted to fight. Mirae preferred to listen to Anivia, Coldren’s first born daughter who often frequented the apothecary for her words of freedom and a better more peaceful future was the only hope that the tribe had. That the younger Niveis, blessed with markings in every place unlike every other Niveis, would one day succeed her father and lead their clan to a better future.

Mirae stayed close to Anivia, being a voice of reason for her and guiding her when she asked for it. Mirae knew of the uprising coming and she knew she would be on the right side of it this time. Separated from Daehyun for a long time she hoped that he remained in good sense though her heart told her he did, that he would fight for what he believed was right when the time came. And when that night finally happened and the clan watched with frightened eyes as Anivia laid a lifeless Coldren out before them, Mirae knew this was the beginning of a new era.

An era that had been whispered about for the whole of her life, a future where they were free to live their lives as they wished. A future with peace, where no single revenge story was the trigger for entire wars. Anivia told them their future led them to Evermore city and Mirae was ready to follow, ready to see what a life in the city could bring her.