Cyra Noavek

illustration by Gabriel Picolo

(5, 8, and 11 in flashbacks too)

Lazmet (adoptive father) †
Ylira (adoptive mother) †
Ryzek (adoptive older brother) †

 SPOILERS CONTAINED IN THIS ARTICLE

**Cyra Noavek** is the daughter of Aoseh and Sifa Kereseth, though she was raised by Lazmet Noavek and his wife, Ylira. Cyra was nicknamed "Ryzek's Scourge" by the Shotet people.

## Currentgift

Her currentgift is channeling the currentstream, which causes great pain to herself. She is able to transfer the current into others through physical contact, which causes pain, or even death to the recipient. Her gift is frequently used by Ryzek Noavek, her adopted brother, as a method for torturing his enemies. This leads to her being known as “Ryzek’s Scourge" or "Ryzek's Executioner."

## Personality

Smart, quick-witted, and resilient, but prefers to keep others at a distance. She has no friends to speak of at the beginning of the book, her affinities belonging mostly to her former tutor, Otega, and they do not speak frequently. Having spent so much of her time alone, Cyra has dedicated herself to learning. She is a very advanced fighter, can speak multiple languages, and enjoys dance and other cultures. She does not enjoy letting others see her dance.

Throughout the series, Cyra becomes more open with her companions, learning that although she feels great pain, if others are willing to withstand that, she is willing to open up to them.

## Appearance

She has thick black hair that is not curly by that of her mother (Sifa), but always curly. Her hair is also long enough to be braided. Her eyes are dark and her skin is medium brown. After Ryzek mutilates her head, her neck and one side of her head is covered with robotic silver skin, with half-hair and skin slightly silvery in light. Cyra wears her hair on one side like the other Shotet. She wears a dark jumpsuit and she doesn't like to show a lot of skin. Her current gift can be seen swirling on her skin. She covers her left forearm with armor to hide her "kill marks", which marks how many people she has killed. However, she also marks how many people she has caused pain to, which is marked with a different mark and because of this her arm is lined with row upon row of scars.

## Fate

*"The second child of the family Noavek will cross the Divide.."*
Originally, Cyra believes that her fate was that of the second child of the family Noavek. However, her true fate is that of the third child of the family Kereseth.

*"The third child of the family Kereseth will die in service to the family Noavek."*

This fate is fulfilled when Cyra's heart briefly stops during her struggle to contain her currentgift while saving Akos. She was commanded to torture Akos by Ryzek Noavek.

## Currentgift

Cyra's currentgift is extremely powerful. Initially, the current that Cyra is channeling is contained within her body, however, she eventually learns to push the current away from her body. When her currentgift has fully developed, she is able to channel the current stream itself, even at a great distance. By doing this, Cyra is able to negate devastating anti-current weapons. This process purges her body of the current for several days, and can even alter a planet's atmosphere, causing perpetual nighttime.

The process of channeling the current causes immense pain to Cyra, which can be dulled through medication or by contact with Akos' current-canceling gift. This pain can be transferred to other people through physical contact, or later, physical proximity to Cyra.

The physical manifestation of her currentgift is evident in swirling "shadows" that at first exist beneath, and later, on top of her skin. She can transfer the current that she is channeling into other people, which inflicts great pain, or even death. When she channels all of the current into another person, she receives temporary relief from the pain.

She developed her currentgift prematurely at eight seasons, as a protection instinct of Ryzek forcing her to trade memories using his currentgift. With her mother, she visited many doctors throughout the galaxy in search of relief, but she did not like these visits. She was once told by a doctor named Dr. Fadlan that she had this gift because she believed both others and herself deserved pain.

When she travels through the currentstream, her skin turns completely black.

## Marks

Cyra has lost count of the number of marks she has carved on herself. The first belonged to her mother, Ylira Noavek, whom Cyra inadvertently killed the first time her currentgift pushed completely into another person, while Cyra was in a fit of adolescent rage when she refused to go to another doctor. The other marks are from those Cyra has tortured with her currentgift, regardless of whether her victim died or not. Most of those marks are the victims her brother has made her torture for his benefit. She covers these marks with armour and wears it constantly. Only Akos has seen her without it on.

## Relationship with Akos

Cyra first sees Akos the day he is brought to Voa when they are both 14 seasons old. He is covered with bruises at the time, with Cyra thinking to herself about his thin skin. Seasons later, Ryzek assigns Akos to be his sister’s personal servant. The first time Akos meets her is just after Cyra tortures Uzul Zetsyvis. She is wearing her mother’s dress, crouched on the floor, dripping with sweat and tears when he sees her for the first time. This humiliates her. Akos sarcastically calls her *My lady* and offers to teach her how to make painkilling potions in exchange for fighting lessons. They are antagonistic to each other for a short time, but soon develop a mutually benefitting partnership and friendship, which is broken when Akos attempts to smuggle his brother, Eijeh, away from Voa after drugging Cyra one evening during the Sojourn Festival. The sense of betrayal does not last long and Cyra understands his motives and Akos apologises for abusing her trust in him. They eventually fall in love, and later in a vision seen by Eijeh they are standing hand in hand walking towards the new sojourn ship.

## Fanart/Designs

Credit: https://thebibliotaph.com/2018/03/11/review-carve-mark/