Mala Fire-Bringer, also known as Mala Light-Bringer, and the Lady of Light, Learning, and Fire. She is one of the main deities present in Erilea. She is the Goddess of the Sun. The sun stags are her sacred animals, who wield her immortal flame between their antlers.
History[]
Mala, along with the other Gods and Goddesses, is a being of higher and different existence. Their bodies could be shifted and molded into any form they wished, they could exist in multiple places at once and also spread their being to vast distances. For these deities, time was fluid.
They are not native to Erilea, having wandered into the world through the wydrgate that had been broken - due to the Valg Kings fashioning 3 slivers of wyrdkeys for each king to summon armies and conquer Erilea. As of the moment, they are trapped in Erilea.
She is the eternal rival and sister of Deanna, although Aelin has stated that they probably have been working together the whole time. Both goddesses have watched over Aelin throughout her whole life.
She loved Brannon Galathynius fiercely, having blessed him with her mighty gift - Fire magic. It was later known in that she mated with Brannon after being bound in a mortal form, and bore him many children including Elena. She had to give up her mortal body, her life with her family and children to become the Lock - the "Eye of Elena" that was once a tool to seal the wyrdkeys inside the broken Wyrdgate and make it whole forever
After being trapped in Erilea via the broken wyrdgate, Brannon Galathynius, a bastard-born child of Doranelle, earned Mala's gaze. She blessed him with her mighty gifts, offering him her Fire Magic to wield in great power.
Once Brannon stole the wyrdkeys back from Queen Maeve of the Fae, the goddess offered him another gift. She bound her entire being into a mortal body, and then offered him the gift of her heart. They loved each other fiercely, and Mala bore Brannon many children, including Elena. She is the reason Aelin bears her gift of Fire and why her well of magic has immense depth.
Brannon Galathynius stole and rehabilitated Mala's sacred sun stags from her temple near the Cambrian Mountains to his founded kingdom of Terrasen.
As of the current era, Mala's line has branched to two Royal Houses: House Havilliard and House Galathynius.
The Havilliard House inherited her brute magic power, able to be shaped and wielded in any form the bearer wishes. The earliest wielder of this power was Elena Galathynius. Elena mentioned her well of magic was not endless and deep as her fathers. Dorian Havilliard is the current bearer of Mala's brute power.
The Galathynius House inherited her true Fire Magic. There were no Fire-Bringers in the Galathynius line after Brannon and Mala, other than Aelin Galathynius. She is the current heir of Mala's true gifts.
The Lock[]
When the second Valg wars erupted, led by Erawan, the Gods and Goddesses made a deal with Mala and Brannon. They would be sent home through the broken wyrdgate, and then the three wyrdkeys would be sealed shut in the gate - forever rendering the gate unable to open for armies and to destroy worlds. The returning offer that stood between them was that they would take the Dark King Erawan, including his armies, and tear him apart in their homeworld. The cost of the Lock, though, was enormous. Mala was required to give up her mortal body and her life with her mate and children.
Rhiannon Crochan created the basis of the Lock: the symbol of the Three-Faced Goddess in an amulet - a warped metal with two overlapping circles, with a rendering of the goddess' "Heart of the Darkness" in the middle. Rhiannon crafted a witch mirror in the middle eye, which was capable of absorbing immense power. The amulet then had been called the Eye of the Goddess.
With the help of Rhiannon Crochan, Mala cast her entire mortal being, her full Fire-Bringer gifts, and her whole essence into a small blue witch-mirror in the Eye of the Goddess. Though she had given up her life to forge the Lock, she was still able to live on as a goddess.
Misuse of the Lock[]
The Lock was only to be used once; it's a power capable of sealing anything the bearer of the amulet wished.
Approximately ten years after Mala gave up her life for the Lock, Erawan's armies had nearly gotten full control of the continent. Brannon's gift was dimming as he was close to the Passing of the Fae into the Afterworld.
In a desperate attempt to seal Erawan and stop the spread of his darkness and pain across the world, Elena Galathynius stole the Lock from her father and used it to seal Erawan in a tomb in Morath. She did not know the Lock's purpose or that her father bore the wyrdkeys. Upon ruining the bargain between the Gods and Brannon, the Gods showed their rage; however, Mala Fire-Bringer paused in her wrath as if trying to remember Elena.
The Gods and Goddesses proposed that a new Lock would need to be forged by a scion of Mala blessed with her same Fire-Bringer gifts, who would have to give up their life to seal the wyrdkeys into the wyrdgate. They informed her that their original bargain still held: they would destroy Erawan in their homeworld. And so Elena was tasked to lead Aelin to find the wyrdkeys, forge the Lock and give up her life to seal the gate shut.
As time passed to Aelin's childhood, the King of Adarlan became possessed by a Valg Prince after unlocking Erawan's tomb with a wyrdkey he found in Elena's tomb - alongside Duke Perrington, who became possessed by Erawan himself. While trying to keep the demon at bay, he learned that Aelin's fire could cleanse his possession and free him from its control. When the demon learned what Aelin was capable of after displaying her power at Orynth, it decided to wipe the Galathynius line. As such, the royal family of Terrasen was slaughtered, with Aelin barely escaping her attacker, thanks to Marion Lochan. As Aelin tried to flee, she almost drowned in the River Florine. The third wyrdkey (Amulet of Orynth) managed to save from that threat, and the Gods and Goddesses decided that this moment would be perfect for Aelin to complete their bargain. And so they combined their powers and reformed Elena Galathynius in a body to aid Aelin. She was unaware that the real danger to Aelin would be the freezing cold conditions, which caused Aelin to die. Elena then became fire and warmed Aelin's body, bringing her back to life. She also convinced Arobynn to take Aelin away unconsciously. As a result of disobeying the Gods and Goddesses and defying them, they promised her that she would not be able to access the afterlife, and she would merely disappear after Aelin completed her task, never seeing Gavin Havilliard or her children again.
Re-forging of the Lock[]
When Aelin and Dorian re-forged the Lock, Mala was there. Aelin was about to be burnt out and die forging it, but Mala gave her another piece of her power, giving her possibly even more power than before. However, Aelin had to use up almost all of this power also. Aelin forced all of the Gods, including Mala, into the Valg world, where they presumably died.
Powers[]
As the goddess of sun, she has the following abilities along with those mentioned in the books:
- Fire Magic: She is the original Fire-Bringer, Goddess of the Sun, and likely the most powerful bearer of flame. Brannon Galathynius was blessed with her Fire Magic, and upon mating, bred the fire through their royal line so that Aelin inherited that magic.
- Raw Magic: It was mentioned in Empire of Storms that she granted Elena with nimble, versatile magic that could allow her to shape her power in any form. The well of power Elena gained was not as great as her father's. Dorian has inherited his raw magic from Mala.
- Shifting Abilities: She could shift her entire form, mold and bind herself into a mortal body.
- Omnipresence: She, along with the other gods, can spread their beings to vast distances and be present in multiple areas in the world at once.
- Immortality: She is a Goddess, and a being of higher existence, to whom time is fluid. It was also mentioned in Empire of Storms that Deanna was immortal, so it's assumed that all the gods are immortal and cannot be killed.
Trivia[]
- Her first name, Mala, means "sacred beads" in Hindi.<ref>TheBump.com — Mala
- She is represented by Aelin.