Showing results by author "Charles Brass" in All Categories

Two seasons ago, then-fifteen-celebrations-old Lake-Ellen Redwood’s Path in life changed when she became a fledgling Lady of the Leaves. On the morning she attempts to resume her lifelong goal of becoming a guild-certified accountant, she suffers a lightning strike while meditating beneath the massive Heart of the Forest. Fearful the incident blasted into her the devil rumored to be slumbering within the two-millennia-old tree, the local ruling council banishes her under penalty of death. Forced to flee, she travels to her uncle’s house in a distant city to heal in anonymity.

A long satisfying life comes to a troubled end... Witchen Larrika has enjoyed a long life with Warden Maels Raptori on an Earth ruined by the Qrill invasion and subsequent destruction of the portal linking Earth to the Skein. Now, she must finish crafting a spell to save her beloved Maels's life, for torments deep in his mind conspire to drive him insane. They want something from him he cannot provide, but they will not stop their demands until their needs are met. Leaving Larrika no choice but to chain off his memories—who he is, where he's from, and everything that makes him... him.

Due to a disability, young kavax Brayn’s life is in tatters. An addiction forced upon him in a chaotist attack leaves him prone to seizures. His pilot’s license is suspended, attempts to find new employment end in ruin, and the future ahead looms bleak and unpromising. Hoping for enough credits to help him through his dark time, he accompanies his mentor on an operation to salvage valuable components from a demolished outpost under quarantine by the Unity Fleet. The deadline is tight. Danger and death lurk in the shadows. Fleet patrols stand ready to pulverize intruders, no questions asked.

She never paid much heed to the land’s gods... until one took notice of her. On the night of the closed Eye, thirteen-year-old Pae vividly imagines a creature designed to defeat a plague of mice-like scavvers. She calls it a draglin — a smaller version of her island home’s fearsome dragin predator.

Now, Crystal stands at a crossroads. Ally herself with these new, potentially powerful friends and continue her Creator’s rebellion—likely doomed to be a short-lived effort. Or return with Scrounger and trust her rescuer’s influence with the Brethren is strong enough to protect her—and turn her back on the very reason for her existence.

After decades of fighting, Warden Maels Raptori, the last of his kind, is prepared to leave a lifetime of violence and enjoy the tranquility he’s helped bring about. His final mission for the Guild Guard takes an unexpected turn, however, and he finds himself on the trail of a mysterious new enemy more threatening than any before. As the destruction escalates, and the body count rises into the tens of millions, he, his lifemate, and a dangerous new ally with her own secrets and threats find themselves constantly a step behind their elusive antagonist–until the hunters become the hunted.

Since escaping a ruined Earth, Warden Maels Raptori has joined the Guild Guard, where he rescues witchen from the enemy’s witchblood harvests. After the tragic loss of a promising young innocent, he jumps at a chance for redemption. Once committed and cut off from help, though, he’s told the malignant truth behind his presence on the primitive, dangerous low-world–a truth hidden from his superiors.

He suffers fear, rejection, and hostility from humanity. Now, he carries the fate of Earth on his soul. His memories twisted and chained, non-human Miles cannot recall who or what he is, or how he ended up wandering across a devastated land. As he struggles to find his place, torments–both human and in his mind–haunt him across the ruined landscape.

As 14-year-old Maels Raptori prepares to enter the toughest warden academy in the League of Cells, sudden societal collapse threatens one of the Skein’s three anchor-worlds and the billions of lives beneath it. He’s shaken, but as the lone survivor of a species-ending plague, he confidently draws on his skills to navigate the unexpected turmoil–and fails miserably.

Whicker Campbell has a problem. Since the death of his sister, his mother has been lost in her grief. As an enchanti, she cannot just let herself go, though she very much wants to. Unknowingly, she’s feeding off her son’s life force. As a necroti for the state, Whicker needs every ounce of energy he can get just to make it through his day. After a year, the effects of his mother’s feeding are finally hitting home. Whicker knows he has only a week or two left. He comes up with a desperate plan to save himself and his mother.

Welcome to the Tower of Sephalon... Where Mothers give birth to the gods that walk the land and Sisters devote their lives to their comfort, all against their will... Mother of Succor - and the crushing emptiness of her duties as a flood of Sisters arrive at the Tower, breaking the rule limiting their number to always and only one hundred... Mother of Boots - and his self-sacrificial walk into the Beyond to fulfill a pledge and bring peace to a brother condemned for crimes he did not commit...

His first mission takes a sudden turn, and now he's fighting for his life against impossible odds... After experiencing true failure for the first time in his young life, a shaken Highensign Westyr Shelhou embarks on his inaugural assignment for the Unity Fleet. In an unexpected re-assignment, he finds himself dirtside with troops prepared to engage an adversary resolved to fight to the death.

He never believed his nemesis perished in the Unity Fleet assault on his base. Now, he's about to be proven right in the worst possible way and at the worst possible cost... The Unity Sphere celebrated when the Unity Fleet destroyed Master Chaotist Hetz and his destructive organization, the Black Diamond, in a surprise assault. Despite the overwhelming evidence, Tac-team Captain Axel Fargo—his wife and friends victims of Hetz’s predations—never accepted his enemy death, not without a body.

Life at the Tower can be incredibly exhilarating...Eight-year-old peasant girl Bevenlee sees an aura around fourteen-year-old Princess Ukee and within hours they’re en route to the Tower, where for five centuries one hundred Sisters have attended the precious Mothers who give birth to the gods that walk the land....and eternally unforgiving. As a Sister, Bevenlee learns new skills and makes new and loyal friends, but suffers torment and terrible injuries from Sisters and gods alike.

In one night, she lost everything: her family, friends, identity, and Path in life. Her hopes now rest in a faraway land that may not exist... Saved from the flames of decoherence by her friend’s sacrifice, young Lady of the Leaves Lake-Ellen Redwood travels a new Path—that of a possessed, and not by any mere demon. Rooted within her is a being of immense power never before seen in her world. Forced to flee for her life yet again, she and a fellow possessed seek a place where they can live in peace.

Eight-year-old Peruka hears music no one else hears. Besides causing her pain, it distracts her to the point her life becomes at risk. Isolation and home schooling have helped. Unfortunately, she’s not growing out of the problem, as her doctors hoped.