I am not a superstitious person nor do I believe in predestination, and yet, how cannot I not chuckle with disbelief and shake my head when I fall upon something in the present that speaks to a decision I made in the past when I was unaware of what the future might reveal?

Many years ago now, when I was still dreaming and creating my world, I imagined a group of humanoids on this planet I had at first called Beezeelon and later matured to K’Tara who could harness fire and use sound to channel it. I called this power “sonacsis” and the weapons created using it “firewhorls” and “firebolts.”

I defined the first weapon this way in my notes (and less clearly in the appendix to Book 1 published in 2018):

• Firewhorl: Ball of fire ignited around a target by projecting flammable material at it, which was lit using focused high intensity ultrasound

I had no idea, then, whether this could make sense from a scientific point-of-view, although I did know, of course,  that various species can generate electricity to defend themselves such as the electric eel, and that others can use ultrasound to interact with their environment such as whales and bats who use it to communicate and navigate. But I did not know and had no evidence that the two capabilities could be linked to produce an even greater outcome.

What a surprised when I came upon an article titled “Making an invisible electric wire: guiding electricity with sound” published just last year in 2025! The discovery was the result of experimental research conducted by a team of Canadian, Spanish and Finnish scientists.

 Of course, and as is most often the case, reality is “slightly” less fantastical than fiction, and the ultrasonic beams used in these experiments can only create 4cm sparks…to date. The Lux Baiulae of my story, those with the proper constitution and training that is, can project ultrasonic sounds from their throats and use them to then generate sparks to inflame objects at a distance.

I wonder, now, whether I will evolve or at the least strenthen the Sisters’ powers given that sound, electricity and fire can, in fact, be connected on our world too. If nothing else, I will continue to be awed by this apparent retrocausative relationship between science (or what is as yet unknown) and fiction.

L.A.