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"No really. I'm being serious." Ethan said. "Where I come from, magic is only found in stories. There is no magic."

Alana stopped and gave him an odd look. "But life can't exist without magic."

"Why not?" he asked.

She started walking again. They had almost reached a narrow path into the forest. The minute Alana stepped into the forest she started running her hands over the bark of trees and through the leaves of shrubs. She visibly relaxed once she was inside the forest. The path wasn't wide enough for them to walk next to each other, so Ethan fell in step behind her.

"Life is sustained by magic." She said. "Without magic, everything withers and dies. All living beings -- from the smallest insect to the largest animal -- instinctively draw magic from the Ether to survive."

"Okay, so what's the Ether?"

"It's the source of all magical energy. Simply by living, plants and animals draw magic from the Ether. They always draw slightly more than they need though, and leave the excess floati