Roshani Chokshi

Show me a dream unrealized. Don’t show me unchangeable paths.

I will never leave you in the dark.”

There were so many wants inside him that he doubted there was room for blood in his body

Forged. It was a word that still sat strangely on her tongue even though she’d lived in Paris for two years. The empires and kingdoms of the West called Tristan and Zofia’s abilities “Forging,” but the artistry had other names in other languages. In India, they called it chhota saans, the “small breath,” for while only gods breathed life into creation, this art was a small sip of such power. Yet, no matter its name, the rules guiding the affinity were the same.

There were two kinds of Forging affinities: mind and matter. Someone with a matter affinity could influence one of three material states: liquids, solids, or gasses. Both Tristan and Zofia had matter affinities; Zofia’s Forging affinity was for solid matter—mostly metals and crystals—and Tristan had an affinity for liquid matter. Specifically, the liquid present in plants.

All Forging was bound by three conditions: the strength of the artisan’s will, the clarity of the artistic goal, and the boundaries of their chosen mediums’ elemental properties. Which meant that someone with a Forging affinity for solid matter with a specificity in stone would go nowhere without understanding the attendant chemical formulas and properties of the stone they wished to manipulate

Tristan loved Séverin like a brother, but he stayed here because only in L’Eden could he lift marvels from his mind, free of any demands

I don’t know enough to be serious,” he said carefully. “But I’d like to know enough to have options.”

He has quite the reputation for … zealousness when it comes to his possessions. And what if he knows what the compass really contained?”
“I doubt it,” said Séverin.
“You don’t think he could figure it out?” asked Laila.
“He can’t. He doesn’t have you.” When Laila’s eyes widened, he caught himself and gestured to the whole group: “All of you.”
“Awww…” said Enrique. “What a sweet sentiment. I shall take it to my grave. Literally.”

chose to study the subjects that felt closest to Forging: history and language. He could still change the world … maybe not with something as dramatic or grand as Forging, but in more intimate ways. Writing. Speaking. Human connection