by Jeff Wheeler
“Did you think that Aelus could help?” her father asked, pulling her attention back to him. He finally looked at her briefly, and she read annoyance on his face and heard the derision in his voice as he said Aelus’s name. “We’re going to Annendel. Home of the greatest healers in the known world. There is little a village apothecary can do compared to some of the healers you have seen.”
Kira didn’t want to argue, but knew that many of the healers they had visited during the journey west paled in comparison to the skill she had seen from Galen. She glanced at her hand and shook her head. He had even recognized that she was bleeding and used the parsap to seal the wound. It still throbbed, but no longer bled as it had, and certainly not as long as it usually would.
They weaved through the streets and reached the wagon. The back was latched and the tarp pulled tight over the top. Everything was ready for their departure. Kira would have to tell him that the box had been stolen. They couldn’t go to Annendel. She was not sure she really would want to even if they still had the necessary coins.
“Father . . .” She started to explain, but felt an irritant in the back of her throat as another coughing fit threatened her. It would be the first one since she had taken Galen’s concoction.
He watched her with a concerned look on his face as he always did when the fits came on. She knew he felt helpless and hated waiting for the fit to pass, but there really was nothing else that could be done.
“Water?” she asked between coughs.
He frowned but nodded, reaching into the front of the wagon and pulling out a flask. He handed it to her.
Kira wanted to turn so that he wouldn’t see what she did next, but her father stood watching her closely. As carefully as she could, she slipped her hand into her pocket, pulled out the small canister that Galen had given her, and quickly took a pinch of the concoction to put into the water.
Her father grabbed her wrist before she could mix the medicine into the water. “What is that?” he demanded.
The coughing fit hadn’t completely eased. She took shallow breaths as she tried to work through it. When he didn’t let go of her arm, she pulled back and mixed the medicine into the water, drinking it quickly before he could say anything more. It tasted no better the second time she tried it.
“He gave that to you?” he asked.
The spell finally eased and she nodded. “Just a suppressant,” she answered. “But it works. I haven’t coughed for hours.”
Her father frowned suspiciously. “Are you certain that all he gave you was a cough suppressant? I’ve seen how his father works. Thinks he knows more than the Guild, he does!” He lowered his hand, suddenly aware that he had still been holding it up. Something in his face changed, softening. “Kira—I just want you to get well. That is all I’ve ever wanted.” He let out a long sour breath. “Once we reach Annendel, we can finally start getting you the help you need. The study will find—”
“Nothing, Father. The study will find nothing.” She took another drink from the flask and shook her head. “Why should the healers in Annendel succeed when the others have not? Can’t you see that nothing has made a difference? The only thing that has helped has been this!” She held the flask containing the cough suppressant out in front of her and shook it at him. “And you can’t get past your anger at Aelus to let me have this one reprieve!”
“It is because of Aelus that we lost your sister.” His voice dropped to nearly a whisper.
Kira blinked and swallowed back what she nearly said next. “You can’t believe that. There was nothing anyone could have done for Lisa, not after that injury. Even the Guild couldn’t have saved her.”
His eyes grew wide and he shook his head angrily. “But because of him, we’ll never know. He told your mother that she would be all right. Offered her kind words, letting her think that Lisa would pull through. Had we only known . . .”
“What? You would have subjected her to the same journey that I’ve had to take? Trudge her across the countryside until you found someone else to take a crack at making her better?” Kira coughed once and wiped her hand across her mouth. “She wouldn’t have survived the journey. No more than I will,” she said, turning away from her father.
“I just want you to get well,” her father said.
Kira tried to suppress the tears that came to her eyes when she answered. “I know that you do.”
Then he touched her shoulder and squeezed, at least trying to show affection. Kira couldn’t help but contrast it to the gentle way that Galen held her. They stood in place for a few moments. Kira let the tears fall while her father made every attempt to look away.
“I can’t lose you too, Kira,” he said. “Losing Lisa has been the hardest thing your mother has ever gone through. Don’t give up on the Guild. There’s still the chance that you might be healed.”
Kira looked down at the wagon, wishing that she didn’t have to tell her father about the missing trunk. Losing the hope of her healing would break his heart almost as much as losing her.
But she had to tell him. Better that they have some time left together as a family.
“Father . . . I am not sure that we can.”
“What do you mean?”
She took a deep breath to answer.
As she did, Galen came running through town toward them, splashing through the muddy street. He called out her name as he ran.
Kira turned, wondering if he came to tell her good-bye once more, but his face looked too serious for that. He held out one of the sheets of parchment as he ran.
“Kira. Master Benril,” he said as he approached, nodding politely to them both.
Her father looked at the sheet of parchment, his eyes growing from surprised to angry in the span of a few heartbeats. “You gave him that parchment?”
“A trade for the medicine,” Kira said weakly.
“Don’t you know what that is worth?” he asked.
“It is not worth anything, Father!” She tried to shout, but her voice did not cooperate. “Not without the secret of how to write on it. I thought Galen could help me discover it. That we could then sell it to have enough money to pay the Guild.”
“But we almost have enough for the Guild, Kira.”
She closed her eyes. “No. We don’t, Father.” She sobbed. “A thief . . . I was sick, coughing on the wagon . . . You were at Rubbles’s . . .” Kira knew she was babbling but couldn’t stop herself.
“The money is gone?” he asked.
Kira opened her eyes, forcing herself to look at her father. His face had gone white. All the anger that she had sensed from him had disappeared, replaced by an expression that he tried so hard to hide from her—grief.
“I’m sorry, Father. I should have locked the wagon. Should have protected the trunk. Now the Guild won’t help.”
Standing there, she knew the moment that his heart broke. It was overwhelming to her when it happened. The flat expression disappeared, turned into a look of devastation. “But we were so close. The Guild had agreed to take you into the study. We just had to make it to Annendel. Now . . .”
She saw on his face that he had already lost her. Like Lisa. “Maybe this is better,” Kira said. It was her turn to try to comfort him. “We can return to Duras. To mother and Nathan. Be a family for the time that remains.”
“That means that you will . . .” He couldn’t even finish the words.
“I don’t think that anything was ever going to change that.”
“That was the whole purpose of this journey. That we would reach Annendel with the silvers needed for the study. That you could get the healing you need.”
“Maybe this is best. Now we can just be a family. I don’t know how much time I have left, but I would rather be with you and mother, not sitting in a cold room in Annendel while the Guild picks me over.”
Her father stared at her and then nodded bitterly. He looked at Galen and waved a thick hand at him. “Keep it. Just like what Aelus did for her, the parchment
is useless. Tell your father it’s payment for what happened with Lisa.”
“But that’s what I came to tell you,” Galen said. “We found the solution. Or really, Kira found the solution.”
“What? How?” she asked.
Galen held up the page. Copied on it in his tight scrawl were the symptoms he had recorded for Hyp and Ms. Rubbles in richly colored ink. A large smear of ink ran across the middle of the page, darker than the rest. Kira saw another line and realized that Galen had recorded her symptoms there along with the others.
“When you cut yourself. The blood stained the page.” Galen laughed a soft rich laugh. “Unlike the other inks, it stayed.” He pointed to the long smear across the page. “I diluted some of my blood in plain ink and it still worked. The colorant we needed is just blood!”
He looked up the street and Kira looked after him. She thought she saw Hyp, standing with a disheveled appearance, his shirt untucked and his pants wrinkled. Something about him seemed different from the last time she’d seen him. He smiled and waved at Galen, pointing to his stomach. Galen seemed not to notice.
Kira thought she saw Ms. Rubbles hurry down the street as well, then decided she must be mistaken. When she had last seen her, Ms. Rubbles had needed a cane and had a soft sheen of sweat across her face. The woman Kira saw looked different, more relaxed and younger than Ms. Rubbles.
Her father took the page from Galen and held it up to the gray light, frowning as he read it. “If this works, then the Guild might pay dearly for the secret. I wouldn’t be surprised if we can trade the remaining parchment for . . .” He looked over at Kira. “But you don’t want to go to Annendel, do you?”
She coughed, feeling a bubble of blood come up with it. “It won’t change anything. And I’m . . . I’m just so tired.” She was relieved to finally admit it, but she hated the look on his face. “I’m sorry, Father,” she whispered. She knew that the healing she could find in Annendel was not the healing she needed. What she needed—what her family needed—was nothing more than time together. No healer could help her with that. All that she wanted was to return to Duras, to be a family, for whatever time remained.
Kira grabbed her father’s hand. He did not pull away as he so often did. She smiled up at him and, after a moment, he smiled sadly back at her, finally seeming to understand what she needed.
Her father handed the page back to Galen and then nodded. He stepped over to her and slipped his arm around her shoulders, holding her up. He let out a pent-up breath, deflated and defeated. His voice came out as a whisper as he said, “Then let’s go home.”
D.K. Holmberg
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author D.K. Holmberg lives in Minnesota and is the author of multiple series including The Cloud Warrior Saga, The Dark Ability, The Endless War, and The Lost Garden. When he's not writing, he's chasing around his two active children.
www.dkholmberg.com
facebook.com/dkholmberg
twitter.com/dkholmberg
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June 2016
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This month, we feature an exclusive interview with Brandon Sanderson on his latest journey to the United Arab Emirates. We also include short stories from Wall Street Journal bestselling author Jeff Wheeler* ("The Beesinger's Daughter"), Amazon bestselling Carrie Anne Noble ("The Perfect Specimen"), and Cecilia Dart-Thornton who came out of hiding to let us publish her latest ("The Churchyard Yarrow"). We also feature stories this month by Steve Yeager ("Rain Dance") and Brendon Taylor ("The Apothecant"). You'll also get two articles, one written by NYT bestselling author Anthony Ryan and the other by David Pomerico, Harper Voyager US's Executive Editor. Still not convinced to give it a try? We'll also be publishing an extended sample of Wall Street Journal bestselling author Charlie N Holmberg's** latest novel ("Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet").
* Wall Street Journal, June 2016
** Wall Street Journal, June 2015
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August 2016
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This month, we feature an exclusive interview with Rysa Walker on her first graphic novel based on her bestselling series time-travel series, The Chronos Files. We also share some sage advice on worldbuilding from USA Today bestselling author Shannon Mayer and share the writing journey of one of our authors from last month, Steve Yeager, who didn't start writing until after age 40. We also include short stories from fantasy legend Eldon Thompson ("Thorns"), John D Brown ("From the Clay of his Heart"), and a sci-fi story from Eleanor Wood ("Her Glimmering Facade"). We also feature stories this month by Stephen S Power ("Catskill Dragon"), Charity Tahmaseb's fairy tale twist ("Gretel and Hansel"), and Beth Powers ("Claimed By The Sea"). And along with an interview of our amazing cover artist, we'll also be publishing an extended sample of Josi Russell's excellent sci-fi novel ("Caretaker"). Once you've read it, you'll want to purchase the rest on Amazon.
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October 2016
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In this issue you'll find "Salt & Water," a short story written by Charlie N Holmberg, author of the Amazon-bestselling Paper Magician Series. If you like mermaid lore, this story is for you! We also feature T.E. Bradford's debut story "The Dragon Between Worlds" (hint: we loved it!), Christopher Baxter's history-bending story "The Wizard's Granddaughter," and a steampunk story we all went crazy for called "Juliet Silver and the Realm of Impossibility." We also feature some science fiction pieces this month from Brock Poulsen, "The Drawer" and Amy Power Jansen's "On the Other Side."
We also include the first chapters of a novel from Hollywood director-turned-writer Kieth Merrill from his debut epic fantasy novel "The Immortal Crown" published by Shadow Mountain. There is also a wonderful article by professional dev editor Angela Polidoro (she's the brilliant editor who helps get Jeff's and Charlie's novels up to snuff), and an interview with literary agent Marlene Stringer. You'll want to pay attention to both of their advice. Finally, we include a writing craft article by author Eldon Thompson and an interview with cover artist Tais Teng from the Netherlands.
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December 2016
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In this issue you'll find bestselling author Michael J Sullivan! If you're not familiar with his amazing Riyria novels and the witty Royce and Hadrian, then give "Professional Integrity" a try and learn why everyone loves these characters. We also feature Adele Gardner's fabulous fantasy "Lake Heart," Melion Traverse's ode to epic fantasy "To the Last," and some science fiction pieces we were blown away by, Walter Dinjos' "A Hundred Lifetimes" and Arinn Dembo's "Imperial Ghosts."
We also include the first chapters of Jeff Wheeler's latest novel "The Maid's War" which will be published in January 2017. It's a prequel to his Wall Street Journal bestselling Kingfountain series. We also took to time to speak to a guy who has interviewed just about every famous fantasy author on the planet in his weekly podcast--Hank Garner--who will share with you some lessons he's learned after doing so many interviews. And if you like Jeff's audiobooks, meet the voice behind his many amazing characters, the award winning Kate Rudd, who we interview in this issue about narrating books. And if you've ever wanted a fantasy tattoo, you might have heard of our cover artist this month, the charming Anne Stokes from the UK. Last but not least, author Erin Summerill will teach you in her writing craft article the tools of the trade for "Real Life Romance in Fantasy Novels."
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February 2017
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In this issue you'll find an exclusive interview with NYT bestselling author Brandon Mull about his new Fablehaven series as well as writing craft articles from WSJ bestseller (and founder) Jeff Wheeler and the newly minted NYT #1 Bestseller Kathryn Purdie. We also features some wonderful stories in this issue. Caitlyn McFarland's "Lady of War" is one that will make you hope she turns it into a novel. We also have Ronald Ferguso
n's "Wizards and Wizdom," a very clever tale about a wizard in training. There is also Gwendolyn's Clare, whose debut novel comes out soon, with her short story "Waracabra Tigers" to whet your fantasy tastes. For sci-fi, we have a delightfully creative tale called "Pirate Readers" about a future where reading real books is actually banned. And finally, Allen Shoff's space travel story "The Tariff" about a clever ship captain seeking to thwart a blockade.
This month we also feature two book excerpts (instead of one) that we think you'll love to purchase. Erin Summerill's "Ever the Hunted" and a sneak peek at Bethany Wiggins' new work, "The Dragon's Price."
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April 2017
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In this issue you'll find an exclusive story for Deep Magic by bestselling author DK Holmberg called "The Price of Healing" - it is set in a new world that he'll be introducing in an upcoming novel. We also showcase a great sci-fi story that we loved called "Between Earth and Exile" by Laurie Tom. Clint Johnson also brings us "The Dealer, the Hag, and the Boy Who Dreamed" and "Not That Kind of Wizard" by day-time attorney Eugene Morgulis. Finally, an enchanting story of love, loss, and dragons in "Autumn at the Dragons Cave" by Kathryn Yelinek.
We've also rounded up a great interview with Shawn Speakman and the multiple hats he wears in the genre. We interview the amazing artist Andree Wallin. Love that sci-fi cover! He did concept art for the latest "Star Wars" movies. And bestselling author Nick Webb gives us the technical know-how on interstellar travel with his article "Fictional Space Propulsion."