Aina's Breath

### **Plot Introduction**

The story picks up months after *Jaeth’s Eye* ends. Enosh is still trying to bring the creature back under control with the help of Sapphire, one of the mages who is now supposedly working for him. Enosh is too obsessed with his goals and goes as far as to blame Sume for leaving him. He feels as if he has slipped, and his master doesn’t hesitate to remind him of his failures. As they build up, Enosh makes one mistake after another, starting with the escape of the leader of the mages that he had been holding prisoner, and then later allowing himself to fall into a trap set by a Gasparian lord, one meant to take all of his money and use his influence as a merchant for their own political maneuvering. He spends years in prison, which gives him time to engage in self-reflection.

### **Journey Back to Jin-Sayeng**

In the meantime, Kefier, Sume, and Dai journey back to Jin-Sayeng. Sume is heavily pregnant with Enosh’s child and gives birth along the way—she has tried to reconcile Enosh in the months after the battle with the mages, but he has been ignoring her in his arrogance. Kefier, without revealing that the father of the child is his brother, takes over as the child’s father, finding a semblance of meaning in this act even as Sume wrestles with her own feelings as a mother.

Sume and Kefier grow closer as a result of raising her daughter together, ending in a night which Kefier regrets, on part because he feels like he has overstepped his bounds. Sume also learns more about her father’s past as a “hero” who helped bring a new caste into Jin-Sayeng, and finds herself as a confidante for the uncrowned Dragonlord of Jin-Sayeng—incidentally, the same traveller Kefier and Enosh had once encountered as children.

Prince Rysaran, as he is otherwise known, has been trying to find a dragon just like the Dragonlords of old—he believes that his weak reign is a result of not having a dragon to call his own. He learns of a creature that fits such a description being transported near the Jin-Sayeng/Gasparian border, and tricks one of the warlords into taking it for himself. The warlord makes the mistake of taking the creature back to his keep before setting it loose…the creature goes on a rampage, destroying his entire city and killing his children. The warlord himself goes mad, and Sume feels the effect of the creature herself.

Rysaran convinces himself that this “creature” is a dragon he can tame. She is unable to stop him and watches as the creature takes flight and destroys yet another city before disappearing.

### **Like Father, Like Daughter**

During this time, Kefier discovers that his adopted daughter, Rosha, has a connection to the *agan*. Yn Garr takes a special interest in Rosha and has her stolen. He explains to Kefier that he means to make sure that she is schooled properly—particularly important because the creature is trying to kill her through the *agan* fabric in her dreams because she is Enosh’s daughter and the creature is afraid of Enosh. He coerces Kefier in assisting his plans, starting with his murder of the former leader of his mercenary group.

Kefier, while unwilling to bloody his hands, do it out of love for his daughter, who has become his purpose for living in all these years—he sees parallels of his love for her everywhere he goes.

He assumes control of his old mercenary group despite their initial misgivings. He and Sume reunite, where Sume tells him about everything that had happened in Jin-Sayeng and how the creature’s escape means it has become more powerful than ever.

They decide that their best chance is to locate Enosh, who has been quiet all these years after being framed by the Gasparians for murder of their king. He is now in the custody of Dageians, including Sapphire, who has still been attempting to carry out her duties to protect the world from the creature all this time. Kefier and Sume argue over their future and his persistent fears that she and Rosha will leave him to return to Enosh, which culminates in Kefier admitting to her that he was the one who killed Oji, ending their relationship.

After an accident involving an airship, they manage to find Enosh’s location. A testy reunion with Sume later—who he feels abandoned him, just as she is aware she was just a passing fancy of his—they agree to work together and get to one of the creature’s parts before Yn Garr does.

However, just as they find it, Kefier betrays them, as he feels that Rosha’s best chances lie in him continuing to work with Yn Garr. Sume disagrees, thinking that they need to find Rysaran and the creature first in order to keep Rosha safe. After a big battle between all parties, Kefier returns to Yn Garr and Rosha, while Sume joins forces with Enosh and Sapphire.

### **People of the Shi-uin**

The prologue of *Aina’s Breath* shows the last day of King Hyougen of the Shi-uin people, whose final sacrifice involved casting a spell that covered his entire land in ice. This prevented the Dageians from gaining free access to the *agan*wells the Shi-uin have managed to keep secret all these years.

In truth, the Dageians invaded because of Gorrhen yn Garr of Yn Garr Industries’ involvement. The Shi-uin had also been housing one of the creature’s parts. The resulting catastrophe caused Yn Garr to abandon his plans for the meantime and go to the islands of Gorent instead.

Out of the many survivors of the disaster at Shi-uin included Hyougen’s daughter, Princess Mahe, and Izo, the blacksmith’s son, whom Hyougen tasked with protecting his daughter.

After Prince Rysaran disappears with the creature Yn Garr had picked up from Gorent and was nurturing all these years, he decides to try Shi-uin again, sending Kefier to shadow the remaining Enji mages’ plans. Mahe and Izo’s presence allow them to unearth this piece, which Kefier takes and gives to Yn Garr.

### **Raggnar's Heir**

Sapphire is descendant to the mage who helped seal away the parts of the creature in the first place. To be precise: she is the bastard sister of the leader of the Enji mages. Her father’s influence allowed her and her sister to be schooled in Dageis. After the destruction of Enji at the hands of Yn Garr, she “assists” Enosh even as she tries to find ways to stop Yn Garr’s plans from coming into fruition.

### **The Dragonlords of Jin-Sayeng**

Prince Rysaran is the only son of the Dragonlord Reshiro. Reshiro Ikessar brought many strange ideas to Jin-Sayeng, one of which included embracing trade with the Kag and elevating merchants up in ranks into becoming their own caste, the “*alon gar*”. He was assassinated when Rysaran was a child.

Rysaran blames his father’s “weak rule” to the lack of a dragon…he thinks that posession of a dragon—at least, a strong one—is tantamount to gaining Jin-Sayeng’s respect as a Dragonlord, as in the olden days. He refuses to be crowned unless he finds a true dragon and spends years travelling for his quest, neglecting his land in the process. The warlords of his land find this detestable, with his biggest critic being Warlord Yeshin Orenar of the Oren-yaro.

He tricks Warlord Yeshin into obtaining the creature for himself to test his loyalty. Yeshin fails, and his treachery results in the destruction of his own home and the death of many of his people, including his own sons. Yeshin, for his part, blames Rysaran’s pride.