Song would abandon the place altogether if he could. He was content to occupy the small hut he shared with his grandfather, but the villagers suffered without a governor. Song could see how disputes tore apart relationships with no one left to mediate them. He watched as laziness settled over men no longer accountable to authority. He observed the vulnerable left with no protector. These were simple, uneducated peasants, and Song had come to understand how the wealthy lord had served them. As Lord Dolisu’s only heir, that mantle was now his to take up.
So he had begun clearing the overgrown manor, tossing his past mistakes over the side of the mountain one by one. He would rebuild the house and gardens. He would restore the protective wall. He would restructure a system of government and renew trade along the river. With the help of his grandfather and the council of the Wise, he’d start new. He’d remedy his neglect.
“Song!”
He raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sinking sun. A young woman picked her way up the village path, supporting a tottering old man. Song set aside his handcart and strode to meet them. “Karina! Grandfather! What brings you so far up the mountain?”
Grandfather’s face crinkled in pleasure. “I just wanted to see how you are progressing, my child. Karina was taking a stroll, and she offered to drag me along with her.”
“Li-Min, I said no such thing,” the girl protested.
The old man chuckled. “Not in so many words. But you knew what your offer would entail.”
She smiled. “Your company more than made up for any inconvenience. I believe your wealth of stories has no end.”
“Perhaps, but I am afraid my strength does. Help me to sit, my dear.”
Song fashioned a hasty seat from the rubble, and Karina eased the old man onto it. His figure seemed incomplete without a big golden dog tagging at his heels. But as the old man’s power faded, Kintu had at last succumbed to his many long years. Song laid the faithful beast to rest in a place of honor on Kamiratan’s peak.
Grandfather sucked in a contented breath and looked about with pleasure. “You are progressing well, my son. Another season and you should be able to start building. And then, perhaps a wedding?”
Karina smiled shyly. Her scar burned a deep crimson. “Keeto has arranged for a community work party once the harvest is in,” she told them.
Not all the villagers had been keen on acknowledging a seventeen-year-old orphan as the new lord. Jealousy and resentment often walked beside Song when he visited the village. But Keeto, Karina’s brother and Song’s onetime enemy, had become his most loyal supporter.
Grandfather’s eyes sparkled with affection. “I believe I may even live long enough to see you established.”
Song bit his lip, detecting the loss that statement implied. “Grandfather, what will I do without you?”
“Oh, I will not leave you until one is sent to take my place.”
“Who?”
“One who will watch over the affairs of men and counsel with the Wise.” Grandfather’s eyes grew intense beneath his unruly gray brows. “As long as Mutan sustains the world, the struggle between good and evil will go on. You have brought about the beginning of a new age. I cannot foresee what it will bring, but I know mankind will be equipped with whatever strength the Highest One deems necessary.”
Song had learned to trust the words of the old man. But he felt so inadequate. How could he possibly accomplish the task set before him?
Grandfather must have sensed his doubt. “You, too, will be given all you need.” He tapped Song’s chest with a gnarled finger. “It is already here, within you.”
All Song felt was an anxious fluttering. Suddenly, he longed to hear one of the old tales. He needed the assurance, the sense of purpose they awoke in him. “Grandfather, will you tell me again about my father?” It was the one he never tired of hearing.
The old man beamed a toothless smile. “It is well that you hold to the past. The stories must be passed down from generation to generation lest the young ones forget the Hand that wrote them.”
Song settled his back against the charred remains of a statue, and Karina pressed in snugly at his side. Her nearness made him feel warm and alive, like the dancing flame of a fire. She was the best reason he could think of to finish the work at the manor site. He passed an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.
Grandfather cleared his throat and began a melodic singsong. “I entered the world after the first age of men had passed away, long after the sons of Zumari had left it. Water and ice scoured away all trace of their existence. The land healed, and I was sent to remember.
“For countless generations I wandered the earth, overseeing the lingering bloodline, preserving its history, and observing the activity of man’s great enemy. Much that was lost had been uncovered. Much that is yet to be had been revealed. But my greatest task was ever before me. Always I watched for signs that it was near at hand.
“I traveled from realm to realm, earning my bread with a tale or a chore. When the enemy stirred, when tragedy struck, when a descendent arose to prominence, I took notice. For companionship I was granted a great dog of molten gold. And many were the meetings with my council. Thousands of years continued thus.
“At last, my eye fell on a young child named Quon…”
Fire on the Mountain
is now available.
Find all buy links at MichelleIsenhoff.com.
Titles by Michelle Isenhoff
The Quill Pen
If you owned a pen that wrote the future, would you use it? What if the consequences spread like ripples in a pond? What if they raged out of control? What if the pen demanded tribute...in blood? Micah Randall has found such a pen. One that’s ensnared him in a curse dating back generations. One that’s devastated two families and now threatens his whole New England village. But how can Micah destroy the pen when it offers him his only chance at the future he dreams of? Ages 10+
Taylor Davis Series
Finalist in the 2015 Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards
Taylor Davis and the Flame of Findul
Sometimes life gooses you when you’re not looking. Your family moves overseas and…bam!...suddenly you’re hacking at water demons with a four-foot blade. Yeah, that move landed me in the middle of a supernatural assignment. Angels and all that. Relighting the Flame of Findul–the sword that guards the Tree of Life–wasn’t high on my bucket list. Especially when I found out who else was looking for it. But since the alternative was perishing in a fiery worldwide disaster… Well, let’s just say my priorities changed. I was told I’d have help. I was told I’d be in capable hands. Then I met my guardian angel. I am so doomed. Ages 10+
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Taylor Davis and the Clash of Kingdoms
Taylor just can’t catch a break. Most of his friends only concern themselves with girls and grades, but he has to worry about retaliation from hellish warlords. When three of his classmates succumb to a strange malady, Taylor becomes the target of irrational violence. Is it a coincidence, as Elena so firmly believes? Or could there be a more dangerous explanation? The epidemic soon spreads to national leaders. Taylor and his team are called on to uncover the root of the problem before violence breaks out on a worldwide stage. Their quest leads them to the heart of Africa, to the underworld, and to a second encounter with an enemy who just won’t stay dead. Ages 10+
Divide Decade Collection
Series nominated for the 2012 Great Michigan Read.
The Candle Star
Detroit, 1858
After a tantrum, Emily Preston is shipped from her plantation home to her inn-keeping uncle in Detroit. There Emily meets Malachi, son of freed slaves, who challenges many ideas she grew up believing. But when Emily stumbles upon two runaways hidden in her uncle's barn, she finds that old ways die hard. And Mr. Burrows, the charming Southern slave catcher, is only yards away, lodged in the hotel. Ages 10+
Blood of Pioneers
Wayland, Michigan,
1862
Hannah craves excitement, but all local adventures dried up long ago, when her parents unpacked their wagon on the Michigan frontier. Then war breaks out and her father and brother leave to fight the Confederacy. Hannah is left at home chafing under the boredom of never-ending chores--until the farm is threatened. The one place she longs to leave suddenly becomes the one place she'll do anything to save. Ages 10+
Beneath the Slashings
Michigan Wilderness, 1865
Grace Nickerson's life has been shattered by four years of war. She's desperate to return to a sense of normalcy, but soon after her father returns, he sells the farm and drags the family to a lumber camp in Michigan's northern wilderness. Living among the rough loggers is frightening enough, but then a series of accidents prove intentional. Who is sabotaging the camp, and why? Will the winter in the woods bring the healing Grace's family needs? Or will it drive a wedge between Grace and her father? Ages 10+
Ella Wood Trilogy
Charleston, South Carolina, 1860
Ella Wood
Though she left Charleston a spoiled daughter of the South, Emily returns from her stay in the North a changed young woman. Her assumptions about slavery have been shattered, and her secret dream of attending university has blossomed into fierce ambition. As the passions sweeping North and South toward war threaten to envelop the city she loves, Emily must battle her father's traditional expectations in her own bid for freedom. Meanwhile, the real fight may lie within her heart, which stubbornly refuses to accept that a choice for independence must be a choice against love. Ages 14+
Blood Moon – Coming soon
Charleston lies in ruins and so, it seems, does Emily’s future. She has sacrificed everything for a chance to attend university—her family, her home, even her relationship with Thaddeus Black. But without her father’s blessing, how will she afford tuition? With hostilities raging between North and South, how will she gain acceptance at a school in the Union? She’s lost so much already. What will the war claim next? In the midst of such uncertainty, Emily finds that hope can rise from ashes, determination grows with adversity, and love can take root in even the most stubborn of hearts. Ages 14+
Audiobooks by Michelle Isenhoff
Click here to listen to the first chapter of each audiobook and to find free listening apps, deals, and buy links.
Michelle Isenhoff writes for tweens and teens. Her titles include works of historical fiction, fantasy, and one humorous action/adventure series. When she’s not writing imaginary adventures, she’s probably off on one. She loves roller coasters and swimming in big waves. She’s an enthusiastic runner and cycler. She likes big dogs, high school football games, old graveyards, and wearing flip-flops all winter. Her dream vacation would include lots of castle ruins, but so far she’s had to settle for pictures on Pinterest. Once an elementary teacher, Michelle now homeschools two of her three kids and looks forward to summer adventures as much as they do.
Michelle is also a firm believer in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. As such, she will never include profanity or objectionable content in books meant for children. Works intended for older readers are written with conscionable restraint. Michelle writes in the religious genre under her nickname, Shell Isenhoff, and shares thoughts of a more personal nature on her blog, The Book and the Author.
Visit MichelleIsenhoff.com for additional titles as well as free downloadable lesson plans to accompany them.
Michelle Isenhoff is a proud member of Emblazon:
A wise man once said, “Write your name on the heart of a child.”
We hope to emblazon our stories there.
Twenty authors
Dozens of tween books
Creating thousands of lifelong readers
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