The still air

In the land of Nelfir, every child who turns fourteen is brought before the goddess Linda to receive an affinity. Most are given the common gifts—fire, earth, water, or wind. A rare few receive the advanced ones: ice, lightning, metal, or air. Torgo receives air. For months the gift remains silent. Then, on a freezing winter night, raiders burn his village to the ground and slaughter his parents in front of him. In the moment his world ends, the air finally answers. Every flame in Eldhollow dies at once. The raider leader collapses, choking on nothing. Now Torgo stands among the ashes and the few who survived, carrying a power he does not understand and a grief that will not loosen its grip. The remaining villagers look at him with a mixture of hope and fear. Winter is far from over. The raiders may return. And the still air that saved him once is still listening—waiting to be used again, whether he is ready or not.The Still Air is a dark coming-of-age fantasy about loss, the cost of power, and what it means to breathe when everything you loved has been taken away.