Brant Alger (Keeper of the Lost Cities)

**Brant Alger [last name redacted]** was Jolie's fiancé who, after Jolie's death and his near-death experience from trying to save Jolie, lived in a fireproof home.

His mind was partially broken from the grief and guilt of Jolie's death. After his sanity (supposedly) cracked, Grady and Edaline took care of him.

It was later revealed that Brant was the Pyrokinetic that kidnapped and tortured Sophie in *Keeper of the Lost Cities*. He lied to Grady and Edaline for years and had them take care of him.

Brant was a part of the rebel group Neverseen and despised humans. While he did that, he also tried to use Everblaze to burn the Forbidden Cities to the ground.

Mr. Forkle kills him in *Lodestar* by pushing him under a falling chunk of rock to protect Councillor Oralie.

## Appearance

Brant had terrible scarring and burns, even on his crippled face. He had jet black hair and pale gray-blue eyes, and was noted by Sophie looking at photographs, to be especially handsome before he got his scars. Brant lost a hand and gained many more scars in a fight with Grady in *Everblaze*, Grady managed to mesmerize Brant into burning his own hand off.

## Abilities/Skills

### Pyrokinetic

Brant was a Pyrokinetic who was illegally trained by Fintan. He was one of the few (known) Pyrokinetics that could call down Everblaze and survive.

He was considered Talentless because pyrokinesis is a banned ability. That led to him and Jolie being a Bad Match which made him join the Neverseen, a place where his ability was valued.

## Involvement

### Pre-series

Brant was Jolie Ruewen's fiancé before Jolie died in a fire. Brant became decidedly unstable, which did lead to his mind becoming broken--but not shattered.

He was not able to attend the elite levels at Foxfire because pyrokinesis is banned, so he was labeled Talentless. Brant wrote Jolie sappy love letters while she was in the elite levels that Sophie discovered in *Exile* and *Everblaze*. Not being able to practice his ability and being ruled Talentless was part of why he became unstable and joined the Neverseen in the first place.

Jolie tried to convince Brant to leave the Neverseen, but he lost his temper, sparking Everblaze and resulting in the murder of Jolie. It is unknown if Brant murdered Jolie on purpose, or if it was a tragic accident.

### *Exile*

Grady, Edaline, and Sophie visit Brant. During the visit, Brant behaves erratically and has drastic mood swings, fluctuating between calmness, excitement, and anger unpredictably. He lunges at Sophie to get Jolie's brooch, burning her in the process. Brant also claims to have a fever during the encounter, though this is later revealed to be a cover-up for his unnaturally high body temperature due to being a pyrokinetic.

### *Everblaze*

In book three of the series, Sophie figured out that Brant was Jolie's killer. Grady, hungry for revenge, mesmerized Brant to burn off his hand. After Sophie positively inflicted on Grady, Brant had a hard time killing her because she reminded him greatly of Jolie. Soon Sophie and Dex had him pinned down, but he gave them a choice; they would let him go or their friends wouldn't know that the Neverseen had an ambush of their own. They ended up letting him go, and he escaped to Ravagog. Before, however, he told them what he knew of the upcoming ambush.

### *Neverseen*

Brant and Fintan were present during the flooding of Ravagog, as well as when Alvar revealed himself to be part of the Neverseen. Brant was also present at the Lake of Blood, when Keefe joined the Neverseen as a double agent.

### *Lodestar*

Brant was taken into custody (along with Ruy Ignis) and imprisoned in Lumenaria. He worked with his co-conspirators to bring down the castle with outward channeling. Upon escaping, he attempted to attack Mr. Forkle and Councillor Oralie, though he was stopped when Mr. Forkle shoved him, causing him to be crushed by a huge chunk of the ceiling that was falling. In retribution for Brant's death, Gethen fatally wounded Mr. Forkle.

## Relationships

### Jolie Lucine Ruewen

* **Late fiancé/Love interest**

Brant and Jolie were planning to get married, despite the fact that they were a Bad Match, until Jolie died in a fire. It was later discovered that Brant killed Jolie in his fire, as she was part of the Black Swan and he was working for the Neverseen. Brant killed Jolie in the fire because she was working against the Neverseen and he started a fire with Jolie in the house because of his rage. Although they were on opposing sides and he killed her, Brant really did love Jolie and had a hard time hurting Sophie because she looked like Jolie.

### Grady Howell Ruewen

* **Former future father-in-law**

Grady initially cared for Brant like he was his own son after the fire that killed Jolie. After Sophie found out that Brant had been the cause of the fire, Grady confronted Brant and mesmerized him into burning off his own hand. Grady might have killed Brant if Sophie hadn't intervened.

### Edaline Kelia Ruewen

* **Former future mother-in-law**

Like Grady, Edaline first cared for Brant after Jolie's death. She would bake him treats, like indigoobers and custard bursts for their annual visits. Once Edaline found out that Brant had killed Jolie and kidnapped Sophie, she hated him for what he had done to their family.

### Sophie Elizabeth Foster

* **Enemy**

Sophie was a bit uneasy when she first met Brant, and when Brant was (maybe acting) broken he tried getting her family crest many times. Later on Sophie and her friends discover that Brant is the murderer of Jolie. He hesitated to hurt her because of her resemblance to Jolie.

### Parents

* **Names unknown**

Brant's relationship with his parents was rocky. They tried everything to get Brant to manifest an ability. After Brant's mind broke from the fire they stopped contacting him due to the guilt they felt when seeing his scars, so Edaline and Grady started taking care of him.

Many fans believe that Brant's parent were Vackers, while others believe he may be related to Kenric or even the Redeks, because of Marella's pyrokinesis.

### Fintan Pyren

* **Mentor**

Fintan taught Brant how to control his pyrokinesis, persuaded him into joining the Neverseen, and worked with him within the rebel group. However, there is little interaction between the two in the series.

## Death

He died in *Lodestar* in Lumenaria when he tried to murder Councillor Oralie. His attempt was thwarted by Mr. Forkle, who shoved him while a piece of ceiling fell, crushing his head. Oralie confirms this by telling that his skull was crushed completely, with gray matter everywhere.

(Credits to Kotlc Wiki)