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  Sneak Peek of Book Two

  Prologue

  Often times I dream of the light, of happy things.

  I dream of my mother’s most beautiful face as she smiles down at me from the world above. Sometimes, I even dream of a future where my looks and I have blossomed into something of beauty, something much like my mother.

  I would see myself through the same green eyes; my short black hair has grown to the low of my back, luscious and one to envy.

  “Evie,” they will say to me, “Look what beauty has graced you sweet Eve.”

  I will be old enough then to know of the elders’ secrets, to join in at dinner when my family converses of things happening in the lands of Desin, and when they gossip about others and praise their good fortune. Old enough then to know how and why my mother died, and the dangers of the world we now face.

  Then I will awaken from these dreams that bring me happiness and find myself in the same place that I had been before, in my home near the Yurel Oceans. Stretching to the early morning darkness, I would hop from my bed, feeling my nightdress fall to my ankles. It’s a funny feeling and I always preferred pants, to my family’s dismay.

  My father never approved as I am supposed to be a lady, and little ladies that wear pants were frowned upon, but I hardly found people frowning at me. I make it a point to inform him that I am but ten years old, and can still hide behind pants and those in the town would believe I am a boy for I have yet to blossom. If mother was still alive she would have hugged me and proclaimed that I was too soft of face to ever be considered a boy. She would have silently disapproved of me acting in such ways, but would have allowed the pants nonetheless.

  However, mother was no longer alive, and no one was there to take my side in my father’s estate.

  Not my grandparents who lived with us nor my aunt or uncle, not even my four cousins to whom I had tried to grow close. I was the youngest in the home, but next came Tobias. He was twelve years old and was the only one not too old to play my games with me. This small amount of fun I held in my life was soon to come to an end, however.

  My aunt was to leave with her children across the kingdom to the village of Glade. I am too young to be told why she was doing such a dreadful thing, but I am most certain that her husband would not be coming with her as he had yet to pack any bags.

  I wonder if he will miss his family. I doubt because of his actions, that his family would miss him much.

  I left my room that dark morning and made my descent down the vast staircase towards the front rooms. The house was very warm, toasty even. Voices were heard from down in the kitchen, and I was quick to hurry in that direction, my bare feet making soft padders as I skipped into the kitchen.

  “Smells delicious!” I said, sniffing the air loudly, “What are you making this morning?”

  Petis, the cook I had grown up with and adored more than any others in the home, peered up from his position above a large cooking pot.

  “Ahh, Eve, up early again I see. Your father will not be happy if he sees you up hours before breakfast!”

  “Bother for him. I’m not sitting in my room all morning and I’m bored.”

  Petis chuckled lightly, “We’re making some bacon and biscuits this morning. Your cousin Matthew turns seventeen years this day, had you forgotten Eve?”

  Of course I had not forgotten, he had spoken of nothing else for weeks.

  “I’m very hungry. Might I take some of the biscuits with me?” I inquired, peering over at the warm food being prepared nearby on the counter.

  Petis sighed, a smile about his gentle features as he handed over two warm biscuits into my outstretched hands. They burned for a moment, but I ignored it and started shoving one into my mouth. I mumbled a thank you between the bites of food as I hurried from the kitchen and out of my home.

  I always felt so small when I left the confines of my father’s home. With the massive Yurel Oceans before me, the dark forests of Nevina to my left, and my hometown to my right, I could go anywhere and find adventure. I could sail to the mountains or perhaps travel to the castle.

  Alas I was but a broken bird that had not been able to use her wings, too young to be allowed any freedom, but there was one joy I could partake in without leaving my father’s lands, and that was the watching of the wolves. Early in the morning was when I would always see her. The large amber wolf, muscles rippling as she moved from the forest to lay in the warm sands by the ocean’s edge, even sometimes to bathe in its warmth. She was positively gorgeous and far more dangerous than I could even comprehend. Larger than I was standing, she was truly a marvel to say the very least.

  Not once did she seem scared or threatened by my ever lingering presence. She was a noble beast, and I would never harm her or do anything to break her trust in me.

  A few months ago she had gone missing, and I could have sworn my heart had been broken. But then, several weeks ago she had appeared once more with three wolf pups. They were bitty and fluffy, two a dark amber like their lovely mother, the other was black and far smaller than the others. They would play with each other by the water many mornings, pouncing and leaping, swatting at flies as they passed.

  I found myself staying up at night wishing I was one of them… that these wolves were my family.

  I could not help but smile that morning as the she-wolf came from the dark trees, sniffing the air, ears perked. Her attention was drawn to me for several minutes before she moved forward, the pups following her lead. The black one in back was pawing at the legs of his siblings before him as they bit back in an attempt to stop him.

  I used to believe she was careful for her own life when she came from the dark forest. Now, I was certain that she was careful only for her children. I do not know how this was so hard for me to accept.

  I found myself wanting one of the babies for my own, but no one would ever let such a wild animal into my father’s home. Besides, I could never live with the guilt of taking one of the pups from their mother and breaking the beautiful spell of their morning adventures together.

  Standing quickly, I heard the loud voice of my father in the home. The amber wolf’s ears perked and she whipped towards the trees, her pups following close behind her.

  The tone of my father’s voice was hardly cheerful and I feared the punishment of not responding quickly. Surely, he had come to my room to wake me, and noticed my absence in bed. He stood at the dinner table I entered the house, those grey cold eyes watching me.

  “What were you doing up so early again Eve?” He asked slowly.

  “I could not sleep in, just like every morning.”

  “Get into the kitchen; everyone is coming down for breakfast. Go!” The last words were a harsh yell that sent me scurrying into the kitchen, “When breakfast has ended you change those clothes as well.”

  Everyone was still wearing their night attire as I was when I entered the dining room. Plates of bacon and biscuits, as well as fried potatoes were placed out for us to dish into in the center of the table. Across from my seat Tobias was rubbing his eyes, looking at me.

  “How do you always get up so early?”

  I shrugged lightly, taking my seat at the end of the table. Matthew, Lisa and Nickoli came in next. Matthew was beaming and surely excited for the attention he would be given for his birthday. My grandparents were already seated and looking as prideful as ever as they whispered softly to each other under their breath. My aunt was staring at the bacon as though it was the essence of evil, oh how she despised the idea of eating animals but still it was served. Her husband never left his room, so even for his son’s birthday I doubted he would be making an entrance that morning.

  I had my hands in my lap, thumbs playing with each other as I looked over the family before me, my father finally entering and taking a seat at the head of the table.

  The breakfast was quiet and quick, just as it was every morning despite the birthday boy. The food was always tolerable, even when the company was not. The end of our
breakfast did conclude with presents, which made Matthew’s smile even more radiant as he tore into brightly colored bags and revealed trinkets and toys. I watched intently as he received a new riding bridal for his horse, a few pairs of breeches and a rather handsome lime green shirt along with the toys.

  When he hovered over the last carefully wrapped present I knew what he was going to receive. He had imprinted his dire wish to have a shotgun upon all of us, even Tobias and I. It was no surprise when he lifted the gun from the confines of the box and held it out in front of his body. The look on his face rather scared me, though. It was not of joy or mirth, but rather a promise of violence and mischief that would follow his new toy.

  I feared not the gun, or the violence it would cause, but the boy who held it.

  The rest of the afternoon went on quickly, my family going about their business as my cousins accompanied Matthew to play with his new toys. I busied myself with drawing just inside the home, looking out as they ran and played along the Yurel coastline.

  Suddenly, a scream from outside demanded my attention and I looked to the window to see what the commotion was about.

  Lisa was running from the water as fast as she could, falling to the ground when she could not run as fast as she wished on the sand. My heart sank as I saw the wolf pup run towards its mother at the forest’s edge. The pup must have been lying beside the water under the watchful eye of its mother when Lisa had startled it.

  I heard Nickoli’s voice next, loud and strong.

  “Was that a damned wolf? Have we no security in our own backyard? Moving targets, call Matthew! It looks like the little one’s a bit slow; we can still get them if he hurries!”

  I almost fell as I leapt towards the door outside, my voice breaking across the yard as I scrambled to get their attention before anything terrible happened.

  “Stop! Stop Matthew Stop!”

  My small foot caught onto the last step of our porch and I fell to the ground. Ahead of me I saw Matthew beside the house aiming his gun towards the forests. I heard the shots ring out as I scrambled towards the wolves but knew I was too late as a yipe filled the air and no movement was seen from where the wolves had remained.

  Instead of racing to the mound of fur on the ground I turned to run towards Matthew, launching myself at him as my fists slammed as hard as they could against his body. Lisa yanked at my hair and tore me from her brother.

  “Devil!” She hissed, holding me away from Matthew and the gun that had killed the wolf mother and surely her children.

  “I’ll take it from here.”

  I did not change my composure as my father yanked me inside, feeling my arm pop with the sheer strength of his grasp on me, “Bed, now Eve!” He spat, giving me a push towards the stairs.

  I ran to my bedroom and fell to my knees, body racked with emotion as I mourned the dead wolves that I had come to love. Even in sadness my exhausted body soon drifted into slumber.

  I dreamt then, dreamt of the wolves I had just lost. The wolf mother was lying upon the ground before me in my dream, amber fur motionless in the darkness as I leaned over her body on the ground. Loud, wordless cries of anguish came from my throat as she continued to stay still. Within moments my cries turned to howls, howls so animalistic and morphed with others.

  My fingertips were glowing and beneath my hands the wolf moved, lifting her head to join me in the howl. Glowing hands were tangled in that crimson fur, my eyes meeting her golden ones as I gave her the power of life with my touch.

  She always had a name, didn’t she? The name of my mother.

  “Iris,” I whispered, “My Iris.”

  She watched me, allowing me to touch her and to pet her fur, even to bury my head in the musky wild scent of her back. For a moment I felt as though I was complete, like this was real. That she was there to take me away with her pups and escape the world.

  That was when I awoke on my floor, still imagining myself feeling Iris’s fur beneath my fingertips. It was so real, still in my hands.

  Suddenly, two golden eyes opened in the darkness above me and I gasped, scrambling away from the dark shape with a squeak. Real…the wolf was real and standing right beside me. I had to still be dreaming…must be. There was no other explanation for what I was seeing before me.

  “I gave you life. Blood into flesh, your soul into a new form.”

  I did not know where these words came from and even my voice seemed completely different to me, older…deeper.

  A hand rose up to my throat, as if the touch would stop the foreign words from continuing, fear gripping every part of my body as footsteps approached my door. Iris looked to the noise but did not leave my side when the door swung open. My aunt stood there, glowering at me.

  “You are making quite a ruckus!” She was not looking to where Iris was, not seeming to see her at all.

  When I peered over, there was just empty space where the wolf had stood. I was still on the ground, hands reaching to the area as I tried to search for her. That was when a chuff demanded my attention and I looked back to my aunt. Behind her, the golden eyes of Iris stared, the wolf standing in the hallway.

  “Do you see that?” I ventured, pointing to Iris who stood still behind her, ears laid back. My Aunt turned around and stared right where I was pointing but saw nothing, although it seemed that the longer I pointed at Iris the more she seemed to become solid, alive. I walked past my Aunt and placed a hand onto Iris’s back, petting soft circles boldly as she watched me.

  My Aunt’s scream tore through the house, clearly now able to see what I had touched, which only made the fur stand up on Iris’s back and a growl fall from her muzzle. She was waving her arms towards the wolf as if she meant to swat it, trying to grab from my arm to pull me away.

  “Auntie, stop, please. She’s not going to hurt us,” I spoke, trying to calm her, but she would not see reason and only screamed louder.

  Already I could hear movement in the house, my cousins and family awakening. Without taking another moment to think, I grasped onto Iris’s amber fur in my hands and swung myself onto the large back of the ghostly wolf.

  As soon as I was holding on tightly, she took off. Sucking in air, I almost fell off as Iris took the stairs three at a time and launched herself down towards the front of the house. When she reached the door I gasped, for it was already swung wide and open to the night air outside.

  Iris flung her head upwards and I could feel the howl from the depths of her. We were running again, racing into the forest. Trees and their branches snagged at my nightdress but they merely went through my amber wolf beneath me.

  Finally, she stopped near the edge of a cliff. Below, the ocean beat against the rocks and sang a calming song into the night. I slid off her back and lightly touched Iris’s head, the creature I had raised somehow…that I had brought back to life.

  Let my father come, let him try to harm me. I would not go back or return to him. I was not yet home, but I would find my home.

  By my side, Iris would remain.

  About the Author

  Relaying stories of fantasy, K. Fisher hides from reality and spends her time with her husband and dog in the Pacific Northwest. She believes, above all else, that the journey of self discovery is most important, and cannot wait to share the adventures of Desin with you.

  Contact: https://www.facebook.com/KFisherAuthor/

  Other books by this Author

  Tales of Desin Series:

  Alni – Book one

  Book two – Coming fall 2019

 

 

 
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