Linh Hai Song (Keeper of the Lost Cities)

**Linh Hai Song** (pronounced Lin Hai Song) is a sixteen-year-old (fifteen when introduced) elf and a member of the Black Swan. She is the youngest elf known to manifest in the Lost Cities, having manifested at the age of eleven. Sophie Foster technically broke that record (she manifested at 5), but she does not count because she did so in the Forbidden Cities.

At the age of eleven, Linh was banished from the Lost Cities to Exillium for flooding Atlantis, along with her twin brother Tam, who went with her to keep her safe. She lived as a Wayward until the age of fifteen, which is when she and Tam met Sophie. She is a Hydrokinetic and is known for being the infamous "Girl of Many Floods" after she flooded Atlantis. As of *Legacy*, Linh resides in Choralmere with her parents and is attending Foxfire Academy.

Even though Linh was dubbed "The Girl of Many Floods", she has (mostly) taken control of her powers. She flooded the ogre capital of Ravagog on purpose to help her friends escape after they stole the cure for the gnomish plague. Linh also saved many people in Atlantis when the Neverseen tried to flood it.

## Appearance

Linh has waist-length jet-black hair with silver tips. She got these silver tips by melting her registry pendant chain after she was banished to remind her what happens when she loses control of her ability. Linh's twin brother Tam also gave himself silver-tipped bangs. Linh also has dramatic silver-blue eyes, soft pink lips, and a creamy complexion. She is implied to be more beautiful than the average elf. She often looks quiet, thoughtful, and serene, though she has a feisty side. In Book 8.5: Unlocked, she melted some metal combs her mother gave her and added additional silver highlights throughout her hair, specifically in the front.

## Personality

* **Playful**

Linh is known to be very playful when it comes to animals. She has been also known to give animals unique names. For example, she named her pet murcat Princess Purryfins, and has had full-on conversations with her.

* **Sweet**

Linh is very sweet and does things to help others, especially her twin brother, Tam. When he was kidnapped by the Neverseen, she stayed at her parents' house, just to keep her brother safe. (It should be noted that she isn't exactly fond of her parents.)

* **Caring**

Linh is very caring and always supports her friends. She even made a tunic based on a joke to cheer up Sophie while Sophie was dealing with her shadowflux echos.

* **Quiet**

Linh isn't the type to be very social. Instead, Linh only speaks when she feels the time is right.

* **Gentle**

Linh is very gentle when it comes to people dealing with issues and is always supportive and kind to others.

* **Optimistic**

Linh is always optimistic, even when things get challenging. She distracts Tam when he is attempting to send "Happy shadow thoughts" to help Sophie's echo and is always trying to find the good in the bad things that happen.

* **Loyal**

Linh is very loyal to her friends, and especially her brother. She even flooded Ravagog, the ogre capital, to help her friends escape after Sophie stole the cure for the gnomish plague from King Dimitar's mind.

* **Calm**

Linh is known to stay calm under pressure, specifically when she saved many lives in Atlantis after the Neverseen attempted to flood the city.

* **Determined**

Linh is very determined to help defeat the Neverseen.

* **Fierce**

In *Stellarlune*, Linh still did not trust Glimmer as at that time, she had not revealed her identity. When Linh was talking to Tam about trusting Glimmer, Sophie said she had never seen Linh look so fierce. Her soft pink cheeks had sharpened with her scowl, and the hair around her face seemed to have extra silver highlights, which shimmered as the wind tossed the silky strands around. “I’m tired of hiding at Choralmere, waiting for you to come to your senses,” Linh told him. “I know you’ve been through a lot- and I can see how the situation might make it easy to form strange bonds with someone and mistake it for friendship. But Glimmer is *not* your friend.” Everything darkened. Sophie thought it must have been Tam’s shadows, but then she noticed the gray storm clouds gathering over their heads, which was, obviously, Linh’s doing.

## Childhood

Linh Song had a more difficult childhood than most elves. Her parents were ashamed that they had twins, which is a rarity in the Lost Cities, and multiple births are seen as a curse and a disgrace. As a result, their parents tried to convince other elves that Tam was actually a year older than Linh. However, both twins bravely refused to go along with this lie.

Linh was banished from the Lost Cities and sent to Exillium after she flooded Atlantis. She was still new to her powers as a Hydrokinetic at the time and was not yet in full control of her powers, as stated by Mr. Forkle. The incident that almost flooded Atlantis was after a few other previous ones, and at that point, her parents (Quan and Mai Song) decided they had to let her go. Tam, Linh's twin brother, disagreed with Quan and Mai's decision and says that "They had a choice, all right." This is why she had difficulty with underwater breathing lessons held in Exillium, even though she is a Hydrokinetic. She kept muttering "I can't, I can't" whenever Tam encouraged her to hold her breath underwater. Tam was not sentenced to Exillium, but chose to be banished with Linh. This is one of the reasons their bond is so strong.

Tam was angry at their parents, who would have attempted to pass him off as an only child. He went with Linh to Exillium and left their parents. Linh and Tam both melted down the chains of their registry pendants, and they dipped the ends of their hair in the liquefied silver, creating silver-tipped hair. For Tam, it was a sign of rebellion, while Linh wanted a constant reminder of what can happen if she loses control of her hydrokinesis. She states this in her first meeting with Sophie in *Neverseen*.

Linh is shown to be very fond of animals. In a bet started by Fitz Vacker's goblin bodyguard, Grizel, Linh and her friends had to compete to find something important left by Keefe in Candleshade. The girls defeated the boys, and Tam had to go to Claws, Wings, Horns and Things to get Linh a pet. She chose me a murcat, whom she named Princess Purryfins. Linh is seen to be excited about owning this murcat, even though Tam states that it is poisonous and can be deadly. In fact, Linh could "lose a few fingers" in the process of training one. In the book *Flashback*, Linh begged Sophie to let her ride on Greyfell when she saw Sophie preparing to fly on Silveny.

## Abilities/Skills

* Hydrokinesis

**Hydrokinetics** are elves with the ability to control the element of water. Hydrokinetics describe themselves as being drawn to water. Sometimes those who have not yet mastered the ability find it hard to visit Atlantis, as the city is surrounded by water. Hydrokinetics can draw mist from the air and use it to camouflage themselves into their surroundings. Hydrokinetics can also create objects out of the mist in the air, such as water birds, and are able to walk on the surface of water. They can also draw moisture out of someone's clothes. Linh Song was able to stop Atlantis from flooding in *Nightfall* using her ability.

## Involvement

### Book 4: *Neverseen*

Linh and her twin brother Tam are first introduced in *Neverseen*, when the gnomish plague hits Wildwood Colony while Linh and Tam were living there. They see both the Council and the Neverseen come to investigate.

Linh and Tam are students at Exillium, both sorted into the Ambi Hemisphere. When Sophie Foster accidentally burns the Arch of Dividing on her first day, Linh uses her hydrokinesis to put out the fire. When Sophie sees Linh struggling with breath control during skill sessions, she inflicts positive emotions to help Linh get through the activity. To return the favor, Tam and Linh invite Sophie to Wildwood Colony. There, they introduce themselves and tell Sophie what they know about the plague. Later, Sophie brings her friends to see them, and Mr. Forkle manages to have them stay in an abandoned dwarven house.

Linh is the one who convinces Tam to help the Black Swan break into Ravagog to find a cure for the plague. While escaping, Linh uses her powers to flood the city.

### Book 5: *Lodestar*

In *Lodestar*, Linh entertains Wylie with water figures from her talent while he is recovering from his interrogation at Foxfire.

### Book 6: *Nightfall*

When the team goes down to Atlantis to look for Vespera's Nightfall, Linh is part of the team, and helps fight the Gorgodon.

### Book 7: *Flashback*

Linh helps calm Tam down with "Happy Shadow Thoughts".

### Book 8: *Legacy*

Linh, along with Marella and Maruca come to Havenfield, to visit Sophie. Linh says she came to support Maruca in her decision to tell Sophie her newly manifested special ability (as a Psionipath) and request to join the Black Swan. While Maruca is talking to Sophie, Linh is playing with Silveny and Greyfell's two baby twin alicorns, Wynn and Luna. After that, she asks to Sophie to try and telepathically contact Tam, who is currently being held captive by the Neverseen and is being forced to train. This upsets Tam, and he tells Linh to "stay out of the water", and to "go to Choralmere", which Linh says is code for when she is in trouble. In order to deter suspicions, she, with the guard of Bo, goes to live back at Choralmere.

Later in the book, Linh sneaks into Loamnore with Marella and Keefe (and her dwarven bodyguards). She asks Tam to stop following the Neverseen, but he can't since his hands are bound by Etherine bonds (made by Glimmer). Later on, when Tam is back home in the Lost Cities, Linh mentions that the twins reconciled, but that he was "difficult to read right now".

### Book 8.5: *Unlocked*

Linh decides not to stay with Tam at Tiergan's residence, Solreef, and instead chooses to continue residing at Choralmere with her parents. Tam tells Sophie it is because Linh thinks Solreef has become too crowded, but the truth behind Linh's decision is that she dislikes Glimmer.

## Relationships

### Tam Song

* **(Twin brother)**

Tam and Linh are incredibly close, have a very strong bond, and are protective of each other. Though their parents were originally ashamed of having twins and tried to pretend that their children were a year apart in age, Tam and Linh always told people that they were twins despite the prejudice against multiple births in the Lost Cities. When Linh flooded Atlantis, Tam chose to be banished with her instead of remaining in the Lost Cities. Tam attended Exillium with Linh before the Council lifted their banishment. In *Lodestar*, both twins join the Black Swan.

Tam and Linh also have a way of discreetly communicating using shadow-whispering and a secret code they invented while they were fleeing the Lost Cities. They chose two "I'm in trouble" phrases in case either of them was in danger, made up of code words so that the Telepaths on the Council wouldn't be a threat. The code for when Tam is in danger is some variant of "ocean", and the code for when Linh is in danger is "Choralmere."

### Sophie Foster

* **(Friend/Possible love interest)**

Sophie first met Linh while they were both students at Exillium, and Sophie later told Mr. Forkle about the twins' situation and convinced him to find them a safer place for them to stay than Wildwood. Sophie and Linh are good friends and have gone on several missions together, most notably when Sophie enhanced Linh so she could save Atlantis in *Nightfall.*

### Fitz Vacker

* **(Friend/Possible love interest)**

Fitz and Linh are friends. Fitz is often impressed by Linh's hydrokinesis, and he is quick to help her when Linh is pushing herself and her ability too far.

### Dex Dizznee

* **(Friend/Possible love interest)**

Dex is often impressed by Linh's hydrokinesis. The two of them are friends and get along well.

### Mr. Forkle

* **(Benefactor)**

Mr. Forkle finds Tam and Linh a safe place to stay in *Neverseen*, and the twins join the Black Swan for good in *Lodestar.*

### Keefe Sencen

* **(Friend/Possible love interest)**

Keefe and Linh are friends and are on good terms.

### Wylie Endal

* **(Friend/Foster sibling)**

Linh and Wylie are close friends and foster siblings, as Tiergan is a guardian to both of them. In *Lodestar,* Linh helps heal Wylie after he was attacked by the Neverseen, wrapping him in a water cocoon to help with the burns the Neverseen gave him. Wylie often informs Linh of what Team Valiant is up to in *Legacy.* In Nightfall, it mentions Linh enjoying Wylie’s elvin music.

### Biana Vacker

* **(Friend/Possible love interest)**

Biana and Linh met in *Neverseen*. They are friends and are on good terms. When the team goes down to Atlantis to look for Vespera's Nightfall, Biana trusts Linh in going below the waters, even though she is known for flooding half of the city.

### Marella Redek

* **(Good friend/Possible love interest)**

Marella and Linh are good friends. They often do ability training together, as both of their abilities, Pyrokinesis and Hydrokinesis, are elemental. The two of them are trying to find a way to merge their abilities.

### Quan

* **(Father)**

Quan is Linh's father. He was very embarrassed to have twins, and often tried to make the twins tell people that they were a year apart. When Quan was in the Tribunal because Linh had flooded Atlantis and she was being sent to Exillium, he didn't argue, which lead Linh and Tam to believe that he wanted her gone, so he could have the appearance that he has one child.

### Mai

* **(Mother)**

Mai is the softer of the parents. She didn't protest against the banishment, and let Tam follow Linh to Exillium, but in *Nightfall*, when Alvar was found and Tam, Linh, Biana, and Sophie dropped him off at Choralmere (where Quan and Mai lived), and it was revealed that Mai missed the twins, and had a painting with Linh on one side and had Tam on another.

### Jensi

* **(Acquaintance)**

Jensi meets Linh in *Lodestar*. He is very energetic and friendly to her.

### Glimmer/Rayni Aria

* **(Former enemy/Ally/Frenemy)**

Linh meets Glimmer in Legacy. Linh seems to hold a grudge against her and does not trust her. She acts cold and mean in front of Glimmer, possibly because she is worried for her twin brother, Tam, who seems to trust her, and Linh knows that Tam does not trust people easily. It is also possible that Linh does not like Glimmer because she was the one who put the bonds on Tam in the first place. The other reason could be that Glimmer was their enemy in the Neverseen and could have influenced Tam, causing Linh to feel suspicious of her.

In *Stellarlune*, Linh still did not trust Glimmer as at that time, she had not revealed her identity. When Linh was talking to Tam about trusting Glimmer, Sophie said she had never seen Linh look so fierce. Her soft pink cheeks had sharpened with her scowl, and the hair around her face seemed to have extra silver highlights, which shimmered as the wind tossed the silky strands around. “I’m tired of hiding at Choralmere, waiting for you to come to your senses,” Linh told him. “I know you’ve been through a lot- and I can see how the situation might make it easy to form strange bonds with someone and mistake it for friendship. But Glimmer is *not* your friend.” Everything darkened. Sophie thought it must have been Tam’s shadows, but then she noticed the gray storm clouds gathering over their heads, which was, obviously, Linh’s doing. But after that, Glimmer revealed her identity as Rayni, so it is possible that Linh would then learn to trust her more.

### Lady Song

* **(Family member)**

Lady Song is Tam and Linh’s great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great (x9) grandmother. She was the family member that changed their surname from Tong to Song.

## References

Information sourced from the Keeper of the Lost Cities Wiki