Sei Rhuka

Sei Rhuka, a character in The Crown & The Flame series, is a fire-user and one of Dom's love interests. She is first seen in Book 1, Chapter 11.

Appearance
Sei is a rather well-built woman with black plaited hair and brown eyes. She wears a gray and brown robe with a fox fur collar, gray-brown leather elbow gloves each wrapped with three fasteners, and brown and gray pants with a brown leather belt worn diagonally around her hips. She has red flame markings on either side of her eyes and cheeks, and the brand of the Blackspine Mountains near her shoulder, seen when she moves her collar aside. In her dragon form Sei has a red-brown body with white and gray scales, and has white crystal-like spines running down her body from her forehead.

Personality
Sei is stoic, straightforward, and reticent, disliking needless chatter and talks only when spoken to, except in the case of Dom. She is quite solemn, angry most of the time, and doesn't often appreciate jokes at her expense. However, she has a good heart and will go to any lengths to protect or seek out those she cares about, using her powerful fire-magic to her benefit. She also has a soft spot for her kin, evidenced by her reunion with her grandfather and her childhood friend Anton.

She calls those who are not affiliated with her village as lowlanders, indicating high regard for her people; in fact, she threatened to kill Dom on the spot when she thought he faked his brand just to fool her. She is quite confident of her abilities and belittles competitors, as when she ferociously rebutted Azura who compared their abilities, and as she replies smugly to Kenna when the latter threatened to kill her should she (Sei) hurt Dom during training.

Sei also has low expectations for Dom, being surprised to find herself less brave than he is when he sat on fire first, or when she refused to believe he could take down an airship in his dragon form. However, despite her pride, she gives praise and respect when they are due, when she praised Dom for accomplishing various fire techniques or when she held Leon Stirling in high regard during the latter's wake.

On a lighter note, Sei is an avid drinker. She offers Dom a drink after Anu failed him in his training, and in Book 3, Chapter 3, she is elated upon hearing Val offer the group some "Skullcracker Ale" to mourn Leon. She deemed "lowlander" ale to be as potent as rainwater, and bragged how Blackspine's drink, Ember Wine, is superior. Drunk, Sei behaves jovially, even singing and dancing with Annelyse in front of everyone. When sober, however, Sei despises dancing, considering it an activity only for brides, and prefers brawling at a party.

Book 1

 * Chapter 11: The Technocrats
 * Chapter 12: The Labyrinth
 * Chapter 14: The Foundry
 * Chapter 15: The Return to Stormholt
 * Chapter 16: The Cannon
 * Chapter 17: The Return of the Queen (Determinant)
 * Chapter 18: The Queen of Stormholt

Book 2

 * Chapter 1: The Battle of Thorngate
 * Chapter 2: The Burning of Thorngate
 * Chapter 3: The Shipbuilders
 * Chapter 4: The Docks
 * Chapter 5: The Uprising
 * Chapter 6: The Foundry Destroyed
 * Chapter 7: The Thieves of Lykos
 * Chapter 10: The Pit Fight (Mentioned, Determinant)
 * Chapter 12: The Storming of Lykos
 * Chapter 13: The Wolf's Mouth (Mentioned; Determinant)
 * Chapter 15: The Dragon

Book 3

 * Chapter 1: The Iron Empire
 * Chapter 2: The Queen's Champion
 * Chapter 3: The Sacrifice
 * Chapter 4: The Trapped Dragon
 * Chapter 5: The Uneasy Alliance
 * Chapter 8: The Bitter Reunion
 * Chapter 9: The Last Chance
 * Chapter 14: The Calm
 * Chapter 15: The Lightning Strikes
 * Chapter 16: The Great Protector
 * Chapter 17: The Fond Farewell

Fire Magic
Sei's main ability is pyrokinesis, just like those born in the Blackspine Mountains, and uses anger as fuel. She is skilled enough to create massive balls of purple fire, shape the flames into tendrils, and manipulate heat remotely so as to set others on fire from a distance. She also has enough understanding of her abilities to teach others. According to herself, her flame is more powerful than Dom's and Anton's.

Dragon Transformation
After completing her training with her grandfather in the Blackspine Mountains, Sei has the ability to transform into a massive dragon and back to human voluntarily. This form gives her access to flight, superhuman strength and durability, sharp talons, and the ability to exhale violet fire. It also makes her Kenna's most powerful ally, allowing her to overpower Azura's lightning bolts singlehandedly and leave her severely exhausted.

The only drawback of this ability is that it has a time limit, draining Sei or any other user of energy if used extensively.

Limited Heat Immunity
Sei, like other fire magic users, can neither feel nor be hurt by heat below a certain temperature, and this immunity is dependent upon their endurance and strengthened through training: the higher the temperature though, the harder it is to resist. It is implied that, as she is undergoing the same training as Dom, Sei can withstand heat at least the temperature of lava.

The Crown & The Flame
Sei is first introduced as Hex's fire captive, she intends to use Sei's magic to use the cannon against Kenna's army in the Battle for Stormholt.

When she meets Dominic for the first time, she recognizes the brand on his chest and reveals that his mother was a member of the mountain tribes.

During the Battle for Stormholt, Dom frees Sei and together they fight the Nevrakis soldiers and assist Kenna Rys in the war against Luther Nevrakis.

In Book 2, Sei offers to train Dom to control his fire powers. Dom travels to the Blackspine Mountains to learn from Anu Rhuka, Sei's grandfather. Sei and Dom successfully turn into dragons to help Kenna fight in the final battle, but Dom is captured by Hex.

In Book 3, Sei takes her dragon form and assists in rescuing Dom at Aurelia and fighting the Iron Empire.

Anu Rhuka
Anu is Sei's grandfather. He affectionately calls her "my little Sei-Sei". Even though Sei has difficulty showing it, it's clear that she cares very much for her grandfather; she even lost her will to live when she thought that Hex had captured him. Likewise, Anu is very doting towards her, concerned about whether or not she had eaten and making fun of her, much to her chagrin.

He revealed that she used to cry when her face paint washed off in the bath.

Dominic Hunter
Playing as Dom allows the player the choice to flirt with and romance Sei, but she doesn't respond very well to his advances. It is hinted that Sei has romantic feelings for Dom in Chapter 4, if the player chooses to kiss Sei as a distraction, she will feel happy for a split second before hastily telling Dom off at his bad timing (the kiss). Sei is extremely upset when Dom is captured by Hex near the end of Book 2.

Although she is rude to Dominic, she eventually grows fond of him, but she doesn't show it very well. An example is when after Dom fails his training, Sei goes into the forest to encourage him not to give up, which shows that she cares for him in her own way. When Dom was captured by Hex, Sei broke down in tears and became determined to get him back.

If the player chooses to drink with Sei, Dom and Sei will share a moment together, and Sei will reveal that she accidentally killed someone when she was a younger, more powerful fire-user (someone she cared about, it is possibly implied to be her grandmother) because of her ignorance when using her fire magic. She becomes sad and upset and Dom can choose to comfort her by holding her hand or kissing her.

In Book 3, Chapter 14, Dom can choose to spend some romantic time with Sei. She offers him to give some private training in the forest but plays an ancient tradition called Fal Ignis.

Anton Luno
Sei and Anton are childhood friends and grew up together. Sei even tells Kenna not to hurt him while getting him freed from Hex. Anton fondly admitted that losing a tooth to Sei was a rite of passage for every Blackspine villager boy.

Kenna Rys
Sei and Kenna do not exactly hit off well at the start, but they bond eventually over their mutual fondness for Dominic, and become best friends in the end. By the third book, Sei becomes devoted to serving Kenna, obeying her orders dutifully without protest nor hesitation, something she does not usually do. By the end of the trilogy, Sei becomes close enough to Kenna to admit, during a hug, missing the queen after they part ways.

Hex
Sei has detested Hex ever since she was ambushed by Nevrakis soldiers under her orders. She openly shows her resentment when talking to her, and felt satisfaction after she tackled and knocked out Hex in a fit of rage. When the scientist was eventually captured, Sei glared at her and mockingly declared that Hex would make a fine pet.

Trivia

 * On July 19, 2017 in a blog post about the end of the series, it was revealed that Sei was one of the first characters the writers created for an early draft. While most of the story itself changed until the final draft, Sei remained mostly unchanged.