by CK Dawn
Remnants of Ash © 2018 CK Dawn
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Cover Design by Vanesa Garkova
Mere mortal. Fae hunter. Oh, and the apocalypse? Yeah, that happened!
She's an unstoppable human. He's an immovable beast. But the fae have scorched the Earth and humans are next...
Chloe Etain, stumbled into an ancient war between the Light and Dark that has culminated in her world being thrown into darkness and pre-industrial chaos. Vampire-like creatures roam free, feeding on unsuspecting humans. Chloe knows the truth though and, possibly, how to stop it. But as a mere mortal, what can she do?
That's when the fates step in. Bram Tice, a fae hunting his own kind, vows to help Chloe. But he won't say which Court demands his allegiance. Together, they set out to right the imbalance plaguing her world and save humanity before it turns into nothing more than remnants of ash.
Contents
Prologue
1. Fall of Humanity
2. The Beast Within
3. Rise of the Fae
4. Saying Goodbye
5. Greeting the Locals
6. Pike Place Witch Market
7. A Royal Invitation
8. Ships That Pass in the Night
9. Accidental Revelation
10. Dead Men Do Tell Tales
Reign of Fae Continues
CK’s Street Team
About the Author
Also by CK Dawn
Grandma Fay,
You always taught me, ‘The difficult you do right away. The impossible…just takes a while.’ You proved in your one-hundred years on this earth that one doesn’t need superpowers to be a true hero. Rest in peace knowing that you leave a lineage of strong fierce women proudly taking up the torch and blazing on in your honor.
Prologue
The Butterfly Effect
University of Washington ~ Freshman Year
Who would destroy the Earth first, humans or the fae? Chloe could still feel the cold iron blade pressed against her neck and the dark fae’s hot breath on her skin. She couldn't shake the residue of the nightmare. Tendrils of fear ensnared her thoughts as she walked to her next class. The dream had felt so real.
“Look out!” Completely distracted, Chloe ran smack into a large mass of a man coming out of an office and dropped her armload of books with a resounding, “Oooof!” Her towering futile attempt at controlled chaos flew all over the hallway. Even the hundreds of loose research papers she had not-so-brilliantly sandwiched between the mountain of books went flying. “Sorry, my brain and mouth work faster than my feet sometimes.” She laughed. “I couldn’t stop.”
She knelt and began picking up the mess, the thought of having to re-organize the data her worst nightmare come to life. Looking at the disarray, though, she couldn’t help but marvel at how the clutter had taken on the shape of some magical winged beast with a massive body, long tail, and dragon-like wings which made it appear to be soaring through the air. Reminiscent of spotting similar images within fluffy clouds on a sunny day, the formation fascinated her. What were the odds of the spilled clutter forming anything recognizable, let alone such a magnificent beast? A billion to one, maybe?
“No, I’m sorry,” he replied. “You caught me off guard. Are you alright?” A man in his mid-twenties, his face hidden behind a scruffy beard and overgrown mop of hair bent down beside her. He almost appeared to be hiding behind all that fuzz, but it couldn’t camouflage his phenominal good looks. Noticing her stare, he made a quickened and unusual hand gesture near his face, disguised as pretending to brush the hair from his eyes, almost as if he were attempting to veil the magnetic allure to which Chloe found herself drawn.
Her heart quickened, and she blushed. “Yeah, uh I’m fine, just overloaded. I didn’t want to make two trips.”
As he assisted with collecting her scattered belongings, he picked up some of her research and began to read it. “I’ll say! You’re definitely overloaded. I’d heard rumors Professor Wells was making his students work an exorbitant number of hours to meet his next publication deadline, but this is ridiculous. I bet he even expects you guys to work over spring break. Am I right?” He focused on her then. “Oh, don’t move, but you have a bug caught in your hair. Here, I’ll get it.”
Good god, even his eyes are gorgeous! She was held so captive by his appearance that his words had barely registered.
A blink later, he was holding a beautiful Anise Swallowtail butterfly by its wings as he strode back into his office. “Oh, please, don’t kill it,” she pleaded.
But he was already opening the window and letting it fly free. “Now, why would I do something like that?” He smiled at her as the Swallowtail flitted away.
“Sorry. It’s silly; I know. Most people like cats or dogs or something, but butterflies have always been my favorite.”
“Meh, dragons are more my thing.” He shrugged. “So, why would you liking butterflies be silly? Some even say the serve as a window into the realm of the fae.”
“Right? Exactly!” She peered around his office, her interest piqued by his mention of fae. Her eyes landed on a very old glass photographic plate displayed on his desk, surrounded by stacks of vintage, leather-bound books. The image seemed to capture a view into another realm, one which lay beyond a blurred swarm of flying insects. The tree in the photograph revealed the identity of the creatures to be that of Monarch butterflies. Hundreds of them covered the trunk and limbs as if they were all standing guard over some magical secret.
Even stranger, Chloe realized she recognized the ancient photograph. Dozens of books she’d read about the faerie realm had included the image in the forms of paintings, sketches, and computer recreations, claiming that the original from which they’d been copied existed as the most reliable photographic evidence that such a magical place existed. She’d also learned that sometime during the early 1900s, the photographic plate had gone missing. And there it sat on the intriguing man’s desk.
“You might want to check out Professor Hadley’s curriculum starting with his Introduction to Otherworldly Occults then.” He rejoined her in the hallway. “They don’t call it Wells’ Hell for nothing.” He chuckled at his own joke, pointing at the clutter. The nickname for Professor Wells’ classes was infamous, but unfortunately she hadn’t learned of it until she was already enrolled. “Just something to think about. It would definitely get you out from under all this mundane research.” He shrugged and began to gather her books and papers again. “But full disclosure, I’m Hadley’s immensely biased teaching assistant, Bram.”
“Oh, I’m Chlo...uh Chloe. Hi.”
Bram followed her gaze, still locked on the photographic plate in his office. She was mesmerized by it and frozen in place. “I don’t know, but it feels like maybe we were meant to run into each other today, Chloe.”
1
Fall of Humanity
Seattle, Washingt
on ~ Present Day
The fae did it. They had besieged the human world and were on the precipice of annihilating humanity itself. Chloe Etain learned the magic realm’s secrets too late. There was only one thing left to do. Run!
Chloe dialed her phone as she frantically shoved her research into her backpack. It felt like she hadn’t slept in weeks, always keeping one eye open and thinking someone was following her as she got closer and closer to the truth about the fae. Glancing in the mirror at her fading summer tan, she wiped at the dark circles under her eyes as if she could erase the fact she hadn’t slept. She held her phone to her ear with her shoulder as she tightened the messy bun holding most of her dark blonde hair at the nape of her neck. Barely acknowledging the latest breaking news alert as it flashed across the television in her dorm room, she continued putting every scrap of paper about the Light and Dark Courts deep inside her backpack. With the constant bombardment of information about massive hurricanes, devastating earthquakes, and abnormal weather patterns, the news had become mind numbing with all its coverage and the feeling of helplessness it created. They did this! Chloe thought. She wanted to scream.
Chloe thought it odd as her call went to voicemail. Professor Hadley was expecting her call. He always answers, she thought as she left him a message. “Professor, it’s me. It happened right where you said it would. The unusual migration of the Monarchs, the swarm, it shifted again, and I saw something or someone… I -it looked, I don’t know, like someone was forming beyond them. It’s hard to explain. They’re connected somehow. I’m sure of it now.” She looked around her empty room but continued in a hushed voice, afraid someone was listening. “I...I think you were right. There’s something bigger at work here. I’m on my way to your office now.”
Her thoughts went to the strange creature which had twisted and shimmered into existence right before her eyes through the kaleidoscope of Monarch butterflies she’d been tracking. Calling it a creature seemed juvenile, but she couldn’t explain it any other way. It hadn’t been entirely animalistic, but it hadn’t been completely human either. Before she could get a closer look, it had dashed around the corner of a building, vanishing into a bustling crowd of people, oblivious to it somehow as they hurried off to work and their busy lives. The memory of seeing the creature had begun to dissolve from her mind like salt in water just as quickly as the beast had appeared in the shimmer of feathery light. But it was the sight of that light, through the wings of the butterflies, that was ingrained in her mind, like a lens into another realm that could never be unseen, so the memory of the beast itself remained.
“Don’t get too close…” Chloe snapped out of her trance at the repetition of her professor’s most recent warning coming from the television. A local Seattle journalist was reporting on an accident just a few miles away. The anchor had given her field reporter a congenial warning to avoid the flames to which he stood precariously close.
“Thanks, Jill. Dr. James Hadley, Professor of Anthropology and Mythological Studies at the University of Washington, has been pronounced dead at the scene of this horrific car accident.” Chloe dropped her phone onto her bed as a video of the professor’s car engulfed in flames flashed across the screen. “Authorities report only one vehicle involved and one fatality. Officers at the crash site are working to rule out foul play at this time. Now, Jill, what makes this scene so suspicious is the enormity of the fire that seems...”
The sound of the journalist’s voice was replaced by the pounding of her heartbeat. Trembling, Chloe searched her bed and found her phone. She threw it onto the floor as if it, too, were on fire, and with two stomps of her shoe, she broke its glass. The screen turned black as the smell of melting plastic wafted towards her. She kicked the dead phone under her bed, and changed the password on her laptop, putting it and everything else that could be construed as incriminating into her backpack. In a moment of clarity, she also threw in a change of warmer clothes, several protein bars, and the water purification kit the professor had given her at the beginning of the school year. Her eyes scanned the photo she left on her desk as she memorized each line and curve of her parents’ faces. She took a shaky, deep breath. Chloe feared she’d never see them again. Closing her eyes, she whispered, “I wish he’d been wrong.” She wiped the tears from her cheeks and left her dorm room for good, trying to ignore the sinking feeling it would be the last time she felt the safety of those four walls.
Chloe ran flat out, cutting through the University Center, and headed straight for Professor Hadley’s office. The news reports on the UC’s televisions had gotten even more dreadful as she rushed by. Three volcanoes were erupting simultaneously around the globe, and the earthquake aftershocks plaguing Mexico and California were measuring at 6.5 and higher. The wildfires were so fierce in the surrounding states that Chloe swore she could taste the soot in her mouth. The professor’s prediction had been correct, although his calculations were slightly off. The world didn’t have a matter of years left, it had, maybe, only days. She ran faster, clinging to her backpack and all the fae secrets it held inside. She knew it was reckless carrying such secrets in plain sight, but if she were caught, it wouldn’t matter. Time was up.
Chloe stopped in the hallway around the corner just shy of Professor Hadley’s office. Straining to hear, she tried to steady her breathing as she crept closer to the door. Chloe could hear someone on the other side of the door rustling through papers and opening and closing desk drawers. As she got closer, her mind conjured up several different scenarios which might play out on the other side of the door. Her self-defense class suddenly seemed a paltry weapon as she imagined who, or what, she might have to confront. She knew she was taking a big risk, but time was running out, and she had to take the chance to find the late professor’s journal before it was too late. Chloe squared her shoulders and clenched her jaw.
She gave a shudder of relief as the voice behind the door spoke in a hushed voice she recognized. “Professor, where are you? It’s happening right now. We have to go!”
They killed him, she thought to herself as she rushed to the door. “Bram, let me in,” she said, jiggling the locked handle as she looked in both directions down the hallway.
The door opened, and she rushed in. Bram closed it behind her and locked it again. Chloe’s eyes scanned a specific corner of the room as Bram continued searching in vain. It’s not here! she thought to herself.
“Chloe, I need to find the professor. Do you know where he is?” Bram looked just as frazzled as she felt. His clothes were wrinkled like he had slept in them, and his wavy black hair was more disheveled than usual.
“Bram, it was on the news. He…he was in a car accident. Professor Hadley’s dead.” Chloe choked on the words.
“It was no accident.” Bram tugged the hair above his forehead as if he wanted to rip it out. Bram Tice had been Professor Hadley’s teaching assistant well before Chloe started school, so she knew he must be taking the news hard. He couldn’t be more than twenty-seven years old, but Bram’s easy rapport with the professor had her guessing they had known each other for a very long time.
“Chloe, I don’t know how much Professor Hadley told you, but…”
“I know everything,” she stated defiantly.
Bram stared at her for a long time, his eyes searching hers. “Not everything,” he bristled, running his hand down the stubble on his tan face. Chloe always thought Bram looked like he was hiding from something or someone behind the dark facial hair ranging from scattered stubble to full beard he always sported. Being that close to Bram, his presence seemed bigger than his frame allowed, like he was a supernatural force fighting to be freed from his cramped shell. They were both on edge, but Bram’s casual demeanor was completely gone, replaced by something more animalistic, almost feral. “I need his journal. Do you know where it is?” he demanded.
“No,” she lied. Chloe’s response was almost instinctual. Bram wasn’t acting like the professor’s assistant anymore. Chloe was certain he
was hiding something. There was only one other place the professor’s notebook might be, but she wasn’t going to share that information while he was acting so odd.
Bram looked out the window and clenched his fists. He seemed to be trying to calm himself, even through all the devastation primed to strangle them. It felt like a suffocating blanket of death hovered over Seattle. The sky had taken on an eerie amber glow like the serene beauty of an encroaching, deadly wildfire. “You should probably call your parents. I don’t know if you’ll be able to contact them after…” He didn’t finish the sentence and seemed to be struggling to express something, but he sighed instead and turned on the professor’s television, offering Chloe some semblance of privacy.
She picked up the professor’s landline and dialed her mom’s number first. Her parents thought she was crazy when she had first told them what was coming, but, eventually, they had listened and prepared. She watched in horror as the news flashed from one disaster to the next. Coverage of the earthquakes in Mexico and California were eclipsed by images of the massive plumes of smoke and ash from the three erupting volcanoes. On the screen, billowing soot choked out the light of the sun, and the sky was swiftly thrown into darkness. She took some semblance of comfort knowing her parents weren’t in a city about to go mad, but in their secluded log cabin tucked into the base of Mt. Rainier. At least, if the fae decided to activate Mt. Rainier the way they had erupted the other three sleeping giants, her parent’s end would be quick.