From a stunning new voice in fantasy comes the fierce, romantic story about a world on the brink of destruction, the one witch who holds the power to save it, and the choice that could cost her everything she loves. Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin, which is out now!
SYNOPSIS
For centuries, witches have maintained the climate, but now their control is faltering as the atmosphere becomes more erratic; the storms, more destructive. All hope lies with Clara, a once-in-a-generation Everwitch whose magic is tied to every season.
In Autumn, Clara wants nothing to do with her power. It’s wild and volatile, and the price of her magic—losing the ones she loves—is too high, despite the need to control the increasingly dangerous weather.
In Winter, the world is on the precipice of disaster. Fires burn, storms rage, and Clara accepts that she’s the only one who can make a difference.
In Spring, she falls for Sang, the witch training her. As her magic grows, so do her feelings, until she’s terrified Sang will be the next one she loses.
In Summer, Clara must choose between her power and her happiness, her duty and the people she loves…before she loses Sang, her magic, and thrusts the world into chaos.
Starting the fire was easy. But putting it out is something else entirely.
It’s our last wildfire training of the season, and it’s more intense than all the other training sessions combined. The fire is larger. The flames are higher. And the earth is drier.
But wildfires are a threat we now have to deal with, so we must learn. There are more than one hundred witches from all over the world here on campus to take this training.
The other witches help. The springs provide fuel, growing acres and acres of trees to sustain the fire. The winters pull moisture from the trees before stripping them bare, and the autumns stand along the perimeter of the training field, ensuring the fire doesn’t spread beyond it.
We have to learn, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to burn down our entire campus in the process.
The rest is up to the summers, and we have one job: make it rain.
It’s not easy. The winters pulled so much water from the ground that it feels more like sawdust than dirt.
My eyes sting, and a layer of ash clings to the sweat on my face. My head is tipped back, hands outstretched, energy flowing through my veins. Summer magic is a constant rush, strong and powerful, and I push it toward the woods, where water soaks the earth and a lazy stream moves through the trees. The power of the witches around me follows, and I send it further into the forest.
It weaves around trees and skims the forest floor until it finds a particularly wet stretch of earth. Goose bumps rise along my skin as the heat of my magic collides with the cold moisture. There’s enough water here to coax from the ground and into the clouds, enough to vanquish the fire and clear the air of smoke.
This is the first time I’ve been involved in a group training session since I was on this same field last year, practicing with my best friend. Since the magic inside me rushed toward her in a flash of light, as bright as the fire in front of me. Since she screamed so loudly the sound still echoes in my ears.
I try to push the memory away, but my whole body trembles with it.
“Keep your focus, Clara.” Mr. Hart’s voice is steady and sure, coming from behind me. “You can do this.”
I take a deep breath and refocus. My eyes are closed, but it isn’t enough to erase the red and orange of the fire, a dull glow I’ll continue to see long after the flames are out.
“Now,” Mr. Hart says.
The rest of the summers release their magic to me, weaving it into my own. I tense under the weight of it. Our combined power is far stronger than individual streams flitting around the forest, the way a tapestry is stronger than the individual threads within it.
But it’s so heavy.
Most witches could never support the weight of it. Only a witch tied to all four seasons can control that much magic. Evers are rare, though, and our teachers didn’t have one in their generation—I’m the first in over a hundred years—so this is a learning process for us all. But it doesn’t feel right, holding the magic of so many witches.
It never does.
The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin is published 1st June by Sourcebooks Fire, priced £13.99 in hardback.
