Who Is Valyndra Targeting?
Lady Keisha in the Shadows
Valyndra Shadowwalker has never hidden her hatred for the Noble Dragons of Vacari.
Some have very good reason to watch the shadows.
Kimras, Ancient Gold Dragon.
Amara, Ancient Amethyst Dragon.
Others whose histories have placed them firmly within Valyndra's long memory.
But perhaps the Noble Dragons are not the only ones who should be watching.
Because among the ancient grudges, old enemies, and unfinished conflicts surrounding Valyndra Shadowwalker stands someone considerably younger.
Someone who might, at first, seem an unusual focus for a woman raised within the Abyss.
Lady Keisha.
And Valyndra's interest in Keisha did not begin with Valyndra.
It began with Vuarus, God of Shadows.
He wanted Keisha's power.
The question is...
why?
Before Valyndra, There Was Vuarus
Long before Valyndra began moving forward with plans of her own, Vaurus had already turned his attention toward Keisha.
He recognized something in her.
Something valuable.
Something he wanted.
Her power.
That immediately raises an important question.
What exactly did Vuarus see?
Keisha possesses magic, but magic itself is hardly unusual in Vacari.
Powerful mages exist.
Eladrin magic exists.
Gods wield extraordinary abilities.
Ancient Dragons possess powers developed across immense lifespans.
Simply possessing magic should not have been enough to make Keisha particularly interesting to the God of Shadows.
Yet she was.
Which means the more important question may not be whether Keisha possesses power.
It may be what makes her particular power different.
The Blood of Eldric
Part of the answer may begin with Keisha's father.
Eldric was already a powerful human mage.
That alone made him unusual.
But Eldric did not stop with the magical traditions he already understood.
He learned the Eladrin way of magic.
That gave him experience with more than one magical tradition and expanded what he was capable of accomplishing.
Keisha is his daughter.
How much of Eldric's magical potential passed to her?
That question becomes increasingly important when considering Vuarus's interest.
Perhaps he saw something inherited.
Potential waiting to develop.
An unusual magical foundation.
Or perhaps Eldric's legacy is only one part of the answer.
Because after his death, another exceptional mage entered Keisha's life.
Lord Karrenen
Following the loss of her parents, Keisha was raised by Lord Karrenen.
Eventually, he formally adopted her.
Karrenen is not merely an Eladrin capable of magic.
His abilities are extraordinary.
Keisha therefore grew up surrounded by magic at a level few people experience.
Her biological father had already been an accomplished mage who learned Eladrin magical traditions.
Her adoptive father became one of the most powerful magical influences in her life.
That does not mean Karrenen simply handed Keisha his abilities.
Magic does not work that way.
But upbringing matters.
Teaching matters.
Exposure matters.
The person guiding someone as they discover what they can do matters.
Keisha inherited one magical legacy.
Then she was raised within another.
And still, that may not be the most unusual thing about her.
The Forests
Keisha has a connection that is considerably harder to explain.
She can feel the forests.
Not simply appreciate them.
Not merely recognize when something is wrong by looking at damaged trees or burned land.
Keisha can feel when forests are injured.
She can sense their suffering.
And when destruction reaches them...
she can feel that too.
That connection raises questions even within a world where forests themselves may possess magic, memory, and awareness.
Why Keisha?
What allows her to feel what happens to them?
How deeply does that connection extend?
And perhaps most importantly:
What did Vuarus know about it?
Magic, Upbringing, or Something More?
There are several possibilities.
Perhaps Vuarus wanted the power Keisha inherited through Eldric.
Perhaps he recognized the potential created by her unusual magical heritage.
Perhaps her upbringing beneath Karrenen's guidance helped develop something Vuarus considered useful.
Perhaps her connection with Vacari's forests mattered most.
Or perhaps separating those things is the mistake.
Maybe what interested Vaurus was not one isolated ability.
Maybe it was the combination.
Inherited magic.
Eladrin influence.
Years of magical guidance.
A connection with the living forests of Vacari.
Together, those pieces create someone rather unusual.
Whether they explain everything Vuarus wanted is another question entirely.
Why Would a God Care?
That may be the most unsettling part.
Vuarus was the God of Shadows.
He had access to powers beyond those possessed by ordinary mages.
He had servants.
Knowledge.
Connections to the Abyss.
Why, then, would Keisha's power matter to him?
If he simply wanted more magic, there were other powerful beings in Vacari.
If he simply needed a mage, others existed.
Yet Keisha became part of his plans.
That suggests specificity.
Something about her mattered.
And Vuarus was stopped before he could complete whatever he intended.
An Interrupted Plan
Vuarus did not succeed.
Whatever he intended to accomplish with Keisha's power remained unfinished.
For Keisha, that should have meant the threat was over.
Vuarus was gone.
His plan had failed.
The person who wanted her power could no longer pursue it.
Except plans do not always disappear with the people who created them.
Especially when someone else remembers.
Someone who served Vuarus.
Someone who has never forgiven his death.
Someone who knows considerably more about his intentions than Keisha might prefer.
Valyndra Shadowwalker.
Valyndra Remembers
Valyndra served Vuarus.
His death became one of the defining sources of her hatred toward the Noble Dragons she blames for his loss.
She remembers him.
She remembers what happened.
And she has not forgotten what he began.
That includes Keisha.
Which changes the situation considerably.
Vuarus wanting Keisha's power was dangerous.
Valyndra remembering that interest may be worse.
Because Valyndra does not necessarily need to recreate Vuarus's plan exactly.
She has plans of her own.
The Target Changes
Valyndra's hostility toward the Noble Dragons is easy to understand.
At least on the surface.
She blames them for Vuarus's death.
Kimras and Amara therefore have obvious reasons to expect her hatred.
Keisha is different.
She was not an Ancient Dragon involved in an old conflict.
She did not possess centuries of history with Valyndra.
Her importance comes from somewhere else.
From something Vuarus recognized.
And whatever that something was, Valyndra has apparently decided it still matters.
Suddenly the question is no longer merely:
Which Noble Dragon will Valyndra strike?
There is another possibility standing quietly among them.
A red-haired Eladrin woman with more power—and perhaps more significance—than she fully realizes.
Keisha's Quiet Strength
Keisha has never needed to be the loudest person in a room.
Her strength has often revealed itself differently.
Compassion.
Persistence.
Loyalty.
The willingness to continue after loss.
The ability to build relationships across kingdoms and peoples.
Her bond with Pumpkin.
Her marriage to Ong.
Her relationship with Karrenen.
Her friendship with Princess Adrianna.
Her growing role within the conflicts shaping Vacari.
And beneath all of that lies magic whose full nature may not yet be completely understood.
Keisha's strength has always been easy to underestimate if one looks only for spectacle.
Vuarus apparently did not make that mistake.
Neither has Valyndra.
The Forests May Know Something
Keisha's relationship with the forests remains particularly intriguing.
Throughout Vacari, forests are not merely collections of trees.
Some possess awareness.
Some respond to those living within them.
Some can defend themselves.
Some remember.
Kaelorn's journey as Forestborne Warden has demonstrated just how significant the relationship between people and the living forests can become.
Yet Keisha's connection is her own.
She can feel their suffering.
That raises a disturbing possibility.
If the forests can feel...
and Keisha can feel them...
what exactly exists between them?
And how might someone such as Vuarus have intended to use it?
There are answers.
You are not getting all of them here. 😈
What Does Valyndra Know?
That is another question worth considering.
Readers know pieces of Keisha's history.
Valyndra may know considerably more.
She has demonstrated knowledge of ancient events.
She knows about powerful artifacts.
Her history reaches into the Abyss.
She served Vuarus.
She understands matters that others are only beginning to uncover.
So when Valyndra turns her attention toward Keisha, it is worth asking whether she knows something the others do not.
Perhaps even something Keisha does not.
That possibility makes Valyndra's interest considerably more troubling.
Ong
There is, of course, another complication.
Keisha is not alone.
Ong Swifthammer has stood beside her through battles, discoveries, losses, and revelations that transformed both of their lives.
He is her husband.
Anyone planning something involving Keisha should probably account for him.
And Valyndra is unlikely to be unaware of that.
Whether Ong understands exactly what Valyndra intends is another matter.
But if Keisha truly has a target on her back, there is little doubt where Ong will stand.
Between Keisha and whoever comes for her.
Whether that will be enough?
That answer belongs elsewhere.
Karrenen
Then there is Karrenen.
The man who raised Keisha.
The man who eventually made legally and emotionally explicit what had long been true: Keisha was his daughter.
An extraordinary Eladrin mage.
A protector.
A father.
Valyndra may have plans.
But Keisha exists within a network of relationships that cannot simply be ignored.
Anyone attempting to reach her risks drawing the attention of people who have spent years protecting her, fighting beside her, and loving her.
Vuarus's unfinished interest may have placed Keisha at the center of something dangerous.
It also placed that danger remarkably close to some of Vacari's most formidable defenders.
And Pumpkin
And then there is Pumpkin.
Black panther.
Keisha's companion.
Family.
A creature who has remained beside her through more adventures than anyone probably anticipated when their journey began.
Is Pumpkin going to solve the mystery of Keisha's power?
Probably not.
Is she going to care about the complicated magical reasoning behind Valyndra's plans?
Almost certainly not.
But anyone attempting to harm Keisha may discover that Pumpkin has a considerably simpler philosophy.
Don't.
Sometimes uncomplicated strategies are remarkably effective.
A Plan Passed Forward?
Vuarus began something.
He was stopped.
Valyndra remembers.
That much is known.
What remains uncertain is whether Valyndra intends to complete exactly what Vuarus began or whether his interest in Keisha has become part of something new.
Valyndra is not merely Vuarus's former servant.
She has her own ambitions.
Her own grievances.
Her own methods.
Her own plans.
Assuming she intends simply to repeat what came before may be dangerous.
Perhaps Keisha's power was once valuable to Vaurus.
The more important question now is:
What is it worth to Valyndra?
Who Really Has a Target on Their Back?
Kimras has reason to watch Valyndra.
Amara has reason to watch her.
The Noble Dragons she blames for Vuarus's death would be foolish to dismiss her hatred.
But while everyone watches the Ancient Dragons...
Valyndra's attention may be resting elsewhere.
On Keisha.
A woman born with the legacy of a powerful human mage who learned Eladrin magic.
Raised by one of the most extraordinary Eladrin mages in Vacari.
Connected somehow to forests deeply enough to feel their suffering.
Once desired by Vuarus for her power.
And now remembered by the woman who served him.
That is a dangerous collection of circumstances.
Can Keisha Escape?
And this is where the answers stop.
Valyndra has plans.
Keisha is part of them.
Vaurus's unfinished intentions have not been forgotten.
But knowing that danger exists is not the same as knowing how it ends.
Will Keisha discover what Valyndra intends?
Will Ong, Karrenen, Pumpkin, or the others be able to protect her?
Does Keisha possess something that could change the balance herself?
What does Valyndra truly want from her?
And can Keisha escape Valyndra's plans?
You'll have to read the books to find out.
And no... I will not tell you which one. 😈
🎥 Featured Video — Who Is Valyndra Targeting?
Valyndra Shadowwalker has never hidden her hatred for Vacari's Noble Dragons.
But the dragons may not be her only targets.
Long before Valyndra began making plans of her own, Vaurus wanted Lady Keisha's power.
Was it the magical legacy inherited from Eldric?
Her upbringing beneath Lord Karrenen?
Her mysterious connection with Vacari's forests?
Or something more?
Vuarus was stopped before his plan could be completed.
Valyndra has not forgotten.
▶ Watch Who Is Valyndra Targeting? on YouTube:
