Balefire is a fantasy novel series, published in the US, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, UK and the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 (as Vuurbaken), by Cate Tiernan

Cate Tiernan

Cate Tiernan is the pen name of Gabrielle Charbonnet, an American author.Writing as Cate Tiernan, she is best known for her Sweep series, which follows the Wiccan adventures of a cast of high school students...

, the author of the Sweep

Sweep (book series)

Sweep is fictional novel series created by Cate Tiernan. The discovery that she is a descendant of a long and powerful line of witches, finds Morgan Rowland battling the forces of dark and sinister magick.-Book of Shadows, Volume 1:...

 (aka Wicca) series.

Beginning with A Chalice of Wind, the series follows the life of Thais Allard and Clio Martin on their journey of discovery.

Plot summary

After seventeen-year-old Thais Allard loses her widowed father in a tragic car accident, she is forced to leave the only home she has ever known. She moves to live with a total stranger in New Orleans, which greets her with many secrets and mysteries. However, none of these moments are as unbelievable as the one in which she unknowingly comes face to face with her identical twin, Clio Martin . Thais soon learns that she and her twin come from a family of witches and that she possesses astonishing powers. Both Thais and Clio have a key role in Balefire

Balefire

Balefire, in the world of the Wheel of Time, is a weapon created with the One Power or with the True Power.-Description:It has only one known weave, and when evoked, summons a blindingly bright beam of "liquid light" that is capable of destroying nearly every known substance...

 - the coven in which they are born into. However, fiery Clio is less than thrilled to have to share the spotlight, but the twins must learn to combine their powers in order to complete a rite that will transform their lives and the coven

Coven

A coven or covan is a name used to describe a gathering of witches or in some cases vampires. Due to the word's association with witches, a gathering of Wiccans, followers of the witchcraft-based neopagan religion of Wicca, is also described as a coven....

 forever.

Thais Allard

The twin who was born after midnight on November 23. Thais was raised by her father, Michel Allard, in Welsford

Welsford

Welsford can refer to:* Welsford is the name of a community in New Brunswick, Canada* Welsford is the name of two communities in Nova Scotia, Canada* Welsford is also a family name. e.g. Malcolm Welsford....

, Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

 until he died in a car accident. Thais follows the rules and rarely parties. She went to live in New Orleans with Axelle until she found out she had a twin, Clio. She then moved in with Petra and Clio where Petra began to teach Thais witchcraft. Thais is a sagittarius

Sagittarius (astrology)

Sagittarius is the ninth astrological sign in the Zodiac, which spans the zodiac between the 240th and 269th degree of celestial longitude...

 and her element is water

Water

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

. She is also a powerful witch like her sister and sometimes when she is in danger, spells will pop into her head. Unlike Clio, who has it on the left, Thais has a birthmark on her right cheek. At the beginning of the book series, she began to date Luc-Andre Martin and later found out he was also dating Clio at the same time. Thais was hurt by this and so began to date a boy named Kevin LaTour but broke up with him in the final book. In the end, she becomes friends with Luc. She and her sister both are identical to Cerise, their ancestor, except they have black hair, like Melita.

Clio Martin

The twin who was born before midnight on November 22, Clio was raised by her grandmother/ancestor, Petra Martin, in New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

. The mirror of her sister, her element is fire. She has a birthmark on her left cheek and is a scorpio

Scorpio

-Technology:* Scorpio , Roman artillery invented in 50 BC* Scorpio ROV, a class of submersible remotely operated vehicle, including the Scorpio II and Super Scorpio operated by the US and UK navies* Mahindra Scorpio, an Indian SUV...

 with the element of fire

Fire

Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....

. Clio is the wild child who parties a lot. However, she is also a very powerful witch. At the beginning of the series, she begins to date a boy named Luc-Andre Martin and later finds out he was also dating her twin sister, Thais, at the same time. Her best friend is Racey Copeland who is also a witch. Throughout the series, she fights her feelings toward Luc and later develops feelings for Richard Landry. At the end of the last book, Clio chooses Richard. She and her sister both are identical to Cerise, their ancestor, except they have black hair, like Melita.

Petra Martin

Petra is the grandmother and ancestor of the twins. She separated the twins at birth and had promised their mother, Clemence, that she would keep the twins safe before she died. She is over 240 years old and her element is fire. She is a very, very powerful witch and healer. Petra had two daughters, Melita and Cerise. During a ritual that was performed by her oldest daughter, Melita, her younger daughter Cerise died during childbirth. The ritual, however, made her and eleven other people somewhat immortal.

Luc-Andre Martin

Luc-Andre is cousin to Melita, nephew to Petra and brother of Sophie. He never really cared for anyone (except his sister) until he met Thais and Clio, his soul-mates. He was known as the heartless rake, always going through girls as if they were worthless until he meets Thais and Clio. He says that he loves Thais and both girls hate him but still loves him. He and Thais make up by the final book and end the series as friends but nobody knows about him and Clio.

Daedalus Planchon

Daedalus is the coven's self-declared leader. He is very powerful and very dark. His element is air. Later in the series, the readers find out that it was he who killed the twins' father and he also has a connection to them. Thais strips Daedalus of his powers in the last book. He is very mean and deserves it.

Jules

Jules was originally a slave until his escape. He almost died but Marcel saved him and Petra healed him. Later, he becomes a member of the Treize, the coven. Somewhat loyal to Daedalus and in love with Claire.

Axelle Gauvin

Axelle was Melita's best friend. She became Thais's guardian temporarily until Petra took over. She was the weakest witch in the coven until the last book. Axelle is headstrong and not a housekeeper.

Richard Landry

Richard was stuck at the age of fifteen until the last book and becomes attracted to Clio. Later on in the series, he said that he had fathered Cerise's baby although it turned out to be Daedalus. In the beginning, he tried to kill the twins until he got to know them. He and Clio are now together.

Ouida Jeffers

Ouida was a female slave bought by Luc until the community set her free. She sometimes helps Petra with the twins.

Marcel Theroux

Marcel was originally thought to be the father of Cerise's baby and tried to run from his past and the coven. He became a Christian monk and stopped using his powers until Daedalus called to him after he found the twins.

Claire

Claire is one of the Treize. She drinks a lot and does not really care about anyone except Jules, whom she loves.

Sophie Martin

Sophie is the sister of Luc and cousin to Melita. She fell in love with Manon and likes to study. Later in the series it is revealed that she was once in love with Marcel and possibly still is.

Manon

Manon has been stuck at the age of thirteen for over 240 years. She wanted to die but Sophie prevented it. In the last book, she began to grow and decided to live, however, since she tried to kill the twins, Melita killed her.

Carmelita "Melita" Martin

Melita is a very powerful, dark witch. She extended the coven's lives for thirteen generations in Cerise's line by killing Cerise. The twins were the thirteenth generation. She was secretly married to Daedalus's brother, Jean-Marie and appears in the final book.

Cerise Martin

She is the sister to Melita. But on the night that Melita was performing the rite, Melita took her power her when she was dying she gave early labor but nobody knew. She died while giving birth to her daughter, Helené. The father was Daedalus Planchon. It is later revealed that these deaths were providing the energy that kept the rest of the Trieze alive.

Clémence Martin

Mother to Thais and Clio. She died giving birth to them. She never married Thais's father, though he was the father of the twins.

Michel Allard

Father to Thais and Clio, but only raised Thais (in Connecticut). He never knew Clio and never even thought that he had a second daughter. He died in the first book, leaving Thais to be an orphan. He was killed in a car accident and didn't know that Thais was a witch. Thais thinks Daedalus killed her father Michel

The Series

1. A Chalice of Wind
2. A Circle of Ashes
3. A Feather of Stone
4. A Necklace of Water

External links

• Balefire - Cate Tiernan Wiki Balefire category on Cate Tiernan Wiki
• Fire Fairy Balefire Page- Cate Tiernan fansite