But after a great tragedy, Ash comes to realize that what she took as fantasy may actually be true. Penthya may be as firm a reality as Earth, her grandfather may have once visited that land, and creatures from there may be after her and her family
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter One
Ash scurried past laced iron, thick oak, and metal screws. Spending any time beneath the bleachers of her school gy... Read Chapter
Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Ash dropped what she held, letting that ball roll to wherever it wanted to go, most likely back behind the bleachers, as ... Read Chapter
Chapter 3
Chapter Three
During the drive home, Poppa Henry took charge. He entertained everyone with details of his last trip, one which ... Read Chapter
Chapter 4
Chapter Four
The memorial service took place a week later, but only after endless amounts of forms—and many a scrap of buried paper... Read Chapter
Chapter 5
Chapter Five
In the end, everything went fine. The memorial itself was a rather brief affair. Steven didn’t say a word�... Read Chapter
Chapter 6
Though it had been his idea to speak only at that lake, Steven still wasn’t able to say all that much there. A few hes... Read Chapter
Chapter 7
It was a Friday when she ran into Emily Baker. Emily was as she often was, stunning, cool, a bright goddess who’d alre... Read Chapter
Chapter 8
“Why didn’t you tell on her,” Peter asked.
He slipped into her room. Dinner was long over and another fight wa... Read Chapter
Chapter 9
However, on Monday, there wasn’t anything left to do. Ash spent Saturday and Sunday labeling box after box with a blac... Read Chapter
Chapter 10
This time the scream inside her throat didn’t die. It echoed about the empty house, and when she had no more breath to... Read Chapter
Chapter 11
“I smell her,” the growl—what had to be that Arathus person—said. Long sniffs filled the air too, and more foots... Read Chapter
Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Ash closed her eyes and jumped. It was going to be brutal, a violent catastrophe of pain. She was so sure ... Read Chapter
Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
As fast as it had come, the dream faded. Ash, again, felt only ice. But it had turned heavy.
It was ... Read Chapter
Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Ash started to run. The wind of this world was stale and dead, yet still it found ways to whip up into her eye... Read Chapter
Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Ash stared from the mirror to the road at her feet, and then from that to the wolf still running at the invisible bar... Read Chapter
Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Water came to her ankles. It felt slick, and cold. Ash closed her eyes. She didn’t want to watch ... Read Chapter
Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Once more, she was flying with lungs ready to burst. Yet, for some reason, words like despicable, and hate, w... Read Chapter
Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
“Ash,” Peter said.
Ash came to a sudden stop before blinking hard. Arathus and Casten were looming so ... Read Chapter
Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Ash thought about that morning. Peter hadn’t heard her yell. He didn’t know she would have done anyt... Read Chapter
Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Ash heard sneakers—she guessed four—squeaking as they tore into the library. She also caught the sound of so... Read Chapter
Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Ash had returned to the Unkindness. Her dream—or memory, or quick bit of nothing—abruptly finishing as s... Read Chapter
Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
The wolf was fast, incredibly so. Ash wasn’t sure if it was the same one she’d beaten to the puddle, but... Read Chapter
Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
“It can’t be,” Poppa Henry moaned.
This time, Ash didn’t even bother to wonder what her grandfather ... Read Chapter
Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Did you hurt her?”
It was Amalin. She was talking to someone, yelling at them really, when Ash ope... Read Chapter
Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ash was angry. She didn’t know why or what was causing it, but the fury in her soul was quickly becoming ... Read Chapter
Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Jeth leaned over and took hold of the blade lying across Casten’s’ chest. It was a struggle for him to r... Read Chapter
Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The Pool burst into a strong white light. It took a few minutes, but after a couple good blinks and one ni... Read Chapter
Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
In an instant, the throne room was alive. “Don’t do this,” the younger Poppa Henry yelled. But... Read Chapter
Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
What happened next went by in a hurry. Ash wasn’t sure she saw it correct.
Ophallo pulled Justice out... Read Chapter
Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Ash couldn’t take her eyes off Amalin. How she stood peering out after the Kawshun horses until they were mere speck... Read Chapter
Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
It lasted a second, as long as it took for Ash to turn her head and then turn it right back around. Poppa He... Read Chapter
Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
It took a moment for Ash to realize that though Amalin was looking only at the water, she was talking to her. ... Read Chapter
Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
Ash leapt. It was the ravens, how, when everyone else had been around, she hadn’t noticed them continual... Read Chapter
Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
The large room erupted into the shouts and moans of a crowd uncertain of what it had just heard. But those ... Read Chapter
Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
Tallis moved. It wasn’t a subtle gesture. A sudden exhalation escaped past her lips as a furrowing ... Read Chapter
Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
The SpellMaker sighed. With his secrets revealed, and with that finger he’d been aiming only at Jeth alrea... Read Chapter
Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Lady Mist flinched. It was another touch of the dramatic—a sudden widening around the eyes, and a visibl... Read Chapter
Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Ash hurried to keep pace. For someone who had looked so weak only a second before, the SpellMaker was acti... Read Chapter
chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Of all the shocks she’d received since her grandfather had come back to her as a Reflection, this was the most ... Read Chapter
Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
She had to be traveling, but this wasn’t like stepping through water or panes of glass, and never once did Ash think ... Read Chapter
Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
The fighting grew ever louder as Ash neared the dead tree. The group she was with was walking with such care,... Read Chapter
Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-Two
There were wooden steps. That wasn’t a surprise, there had to be something besides dark within that dead tr... Read Chapter
Chapter 43
Chapter Forty-Three
The pale man—Ophallo…could it really be Ophallo—laughed. To Ash, it sounded the opposite of how it ha... Read Chapter
Facebook Comments
More Fantasy Books
Book /
Fantasy
Book /
Fantasy
Book /
Fantasy
Book /
Fantasy
Discover New Books
Boosted Content from Other Authors
Book / Romance
Short Story / Other
Short Story / Other
Poem / Poetry
Boosted Content from Premium Members
Short Story / Horror
Book / Young Adult
Book / Fantasy
Short Story / Action and Adventure
Other Content by Jonathan Rutan
Book / Fantasy
