The Eye of Elektron: A Clean Urban Fantasy (The Sumrectian Series Book 1)

by Leigh G. Wynn

  “Why would Praeus want to inhabit Vance? Didn’t he already have a body?”

  With a sigh, Ansel stood and began pacing the room. “Etherians were once powerful blue Sumrect warriors. But the danger of having too much power, Dawn, is that eventually, one becomes consumed by it. During their training stage, soon-to-be indigo Sumrects have often wandered, unbeknownst to themselves, into the territory of evil and sinister forces.”

  “Is that why you changed when I opened the gate?” Dawn noticed the color in his cheeks and the sparkle in his eyes. He was much different than the ghostly pale Ansel she had seen at Crimson when he forced her to open the gate to Etheria. Is he human? Sumrect? Or… She dared not think it.

  He stopped in his pacing with his back to her. “Now you know the monster that I am.”

  “You are not a monster.” The words came tumbling out of her mouth. “You are the kindest, most selfless Sumrect I know.”

  Ansel remained silent in the same position for a long time. When he turned to meet her gaze at last, his eyes were red. “I’m flattered that you think so highly of me.” He gave a light chuckle and drew a glowing Eye of Elektron from his pocket. “Forgive me for taking this orb from you when you were unconscious aboard the Morvyann, but I needed the Eye to bring you back… and to ground my soul to this realm.”

  “A-Are you a Sumrect or an Etherian?” Dawn worked up the courage to ask, though she was not ready for his answer.

  Much to her surprise, Ansel laughed. “Sumrect, Etherian, Human… does it matter? The longer I live, the more I come to realize the differences among them are blurred.” He flicked the Eye of Elektron into the air where it vanished before her eyes.

  “Nifty tool, isn’t it? Thanks to you and, may I say, my own ingenuity, the Etherian in me had not been allowed to surface for long…”

  “Did the Eye also help you stay as virtuous as you are?”

  “My training was… anything but normal.” He winked at her. “But that’s a story for another time.”

  Dawn felt there was much more he did not tell her, but she hesitated to probe.

  “Long ago,” he went on, leaning against the window frame, "my father sentenced many blue Sumrects on Panatomius to a limbo state of being in the Etherian realm for their unspeakable crimes. Praeus was one such being that became trapped between life and death. His plan, if I’m not mistaken, like that of all Etherians, had always been to regain material form. Praeus was most likely drawn to Vance’s immense powers, thirsty for an opportunity to inhabit the body of a blue Sumrect… even one that’s less powerful than before.”

  “Because the spell had been reversed…” Dawn said, thinking hard. “While Vance lost some of his powers, you recovered yours.”

  “Perhaps. Only time will tell.”

  Dawn’s eyes grew wide.

  Ansel chortled and stated with pride, “You, my dear, taught me to never underestimate the true contradictory nature of the Etherian spell.”

  She squirmed, turning a pale shade of pink. In the back of her mind, a nagging suspicion could no longer be ignored. “Ansel, I have been thinking about the phrase ‘Eye of New Light.’” She put her empty glass down on the nightstand.

  “Yes?” He froze by the bed and studied her carefully with the most peculiar expression.

  “Well, you see, Vance never caught the ‘Eye of New Light.’ You did.”

  Ansel kept his eyes fixed upon hers, deepening the reddish hue in her cheeks.

  “Please explain,” he said after a while.

  “Well…” She took a deep breath before she squeezed her eyes shut and blurted out, “I don’t think the spell was referring to the Eye of Elektron either. It simply meant the one who catches the eye of new light… You caught my eye, Ansel…”

  “Oh, Dawn…”

  She sensed Ansel tense up, but she kept her eyes closed. “You caught my eye the first time I met you at Crimson Estate, when you said ‘thank you’ to a human worker who had never heard those words before from a Sumrect.”

  She opened one eye to peek at Ansel. He was sitting once more, his expression one of absolute astonishment.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I must be delirious—”

  “You mean it, Dawn?”

  “It’s the truth.”

  In a sudden motion, Ansel grabbed her hands and held them on his chest. “Have you visited our lavender field?”

  Our? Dawn nodded while her heart pounded against her rib cage. They were dancing around an understanding which had become mutual and apparent during the past two weeks.

  “Back in the control room, the Etherian kept calling me Amber… Is there a possibility… that instead of Ovra Brighton, Amber’s soul came back through a different body?”

  “You mean, did Amber come back through you?” Ansel stared at her, unflinching. “The reawakening of the Eye, the unrestricted access to my portals, the way you painted Moira. All the information I had on you… your peculiarities, your likes and dislikes… Were they the result of careful research? Coincidence? Whose presence did I experience inside the tunnel at the conclusion of the Etherian spell? I hadn’t wanted to scare you or worse, burden you with my suspicions about who you are.”

  Could it be then? Was the girl in the lavender field painting… me?

  “Praeus knew,” Ansel said. “He could not see your body, but he perceived your soul… Amber’s soul.”

  Seized by that familiar gaze, Dawn was at a loss for words. Only after a long while did she manage to say, “How? How did she come back?”

  “I’m not sure,” he replied, grinning, “but I have an inkling… a theory…”

  “What’s that?”

  “After death, the soul will go to wherever it calls home, but when you interrupted the Etherian spell in the tunnel, Amber’s soul, or at least a part of it, latched on to the closest human form it could find—what it believed to be home…”

  The vivid image of the lavender field flashed before her eyes.

  “So, do you think I reawakened the Eye of Elektron because a part of Amber is in me?”

  Ansel took his time to answer. “I made the Eye responsive to one, and only one, individual. The presence of both you and Amber would have confused it. The orb lighted up in your hand because you were the third person to have touched the Source when you ventured back into the past.”

  “You knew this whole time! You felt my presence in the tunnel, and you saw me touch the amber in the basin… then you sent Myles to bring me your portals!” Dawn sank back into the pillows in disbelief.

  Ansel’s eyes twinkled mischievously. “The pieces never came together until you escaped from my watch in the hopes of saving Henry. You stubbornly defied me… much like how Amber used to defy me. I must admit, I was betting on your obstinacy.”

  He then added in a softer voice, “You certainly did not fail to impress. You were stubborn till the end.”

  Dawn laughed. “Sorry to have caused you so much trouble.”

  “I’m not sorry! You sprung me from the insidious trap of wallowing in my past. Whom you are doesn’t change the fact that you brought a new light into my life.”

  For a while, they lost themselves in each other’s presence until Dawn said, “There was something else the Etherian said that struck me as odd…”

  “Hmm?” Ansel picked up the empty drinking glass.

  “He told me to open the gate or I—I mean—Amber will never see her daughter again,” she said. “I never knew she had a daughter.”

  Ansel lowered his eyes.

  “We, Dawn. Amber and I have a daughter. In fact, you know her rather well…”

  He did not need to clarify further. Suddenly, all made sense. The beautiful indigo bunting, the warm spirit, the bowed lips and large blue eyes… How could I have missed the resemblance?! She sucked in a sharp breath. “It runs the family,” the child had even told her. She was a morpheo… like her father.

  “Does Moira know?”

  Ansel turned the glass slowly in hi
s hands. “She was only a few months old when Vance and Regina took her away… on the night Amber died. They threatened me with my own child. As long as I kept to myself at Chesterfield and never interfered with Vance’s plans, Moira would be safe.” He stopped. When he looked up again, tears had collected in his eyes.

  “She’s growing up to be everything I had hoped she would be… fearless and kind… like her mother.”

  Dawn shuffled forward and drew him into an embrace. She finally understood Ansel’s reluctance to challenge Vance. Praedean Rudio was not created to keep surveillance on Vance. It was made to ensure Moira’s safety.

  “Though I had always expected the inevitable, being the one to inflict upon her the pain of losing her parents… that… is still among my biggest regrets…”

  She could feel his body heave against hers.

  “Will you tell her?”

  “She’s still coping with the loss of Regina and Vance… so not anytime soon. But one day… when she’s ready.”

  Dawn drew back and gave Ansel’s hand an assuring squeeze. “When she learns the truth, she’ll be proud to have a father like you.”

  “Thank you…” Ansel forced a smile. “I can only hope to provide her some comfort.”

  “Moira will love living with you at Chesterfield. I know it!”

  “And what about you? Will you?”

  Dawn sat up a bit straighter, surprised by the question. “I haven’t thought—”

  Noting her hesitation, Ansel leaned in closer and whispered, “I am enchanted and enthralled by the enigma that is you. When we return to our home reality—yes, we—I would very much like for you, Dawn Rene, to stay at Chesterfield… with me…”

  “I…” Words failed her again as she gravitated toward his gripping gaze till her lips met his. The bedroom melted away. He kissed her with enough loving tenderness to transport them back to the lavender field where it all started, a haven encapsulated by their will and revisited time and again. They held on to one another in miraculous wonder, rediscovering and remembering.

  At last, Dawn realized, her soul had found home.

  After a very long time, she pulled away and cleared her throat. “You must tell me the story of how we met,”—she wiped away the mist in her eyes—“you know, the first time.”

  Ansel chuckled, shaking his head in amazement. “In time, Dawn, I promise I will tell you everything.”

  ✽✽✽

  In the garden behind Chesterfield House, strings of lights floated above the laughing guests. Max Lang retold events from the past week to a table of wide-eyed listeners while Riesa cut in occasionally to keep him from venturing too far from the facts. Lorenzo’s riveting displays of Sumrectian light work kept Pam and the Brighton children engrossed. Myles, Basil, Winston and Alexander buried themselves in discussion about Tempeia’s future. Opposite Jarret and Gail, Nico, with his arm draped around Blair, tilted his head back in laughter at something Jarret had said.

  They all paused in their activities and burst into applause when Dawn stepped outside with Ansel. Henry attacked her first, throwing her into a tight bear hug.

  “I never thought I would see you again!” He sobbed through tears of joy.

  Dawn held on to him. “Silly! I told you I wouldn’t let them get you!”

  Behind Henry stood a beaming Delia, holding Moira’s hand.

  “I always knew there was something special about you,” Delia said as she and Moira joined in the embrace.

  When they parted, Kai pounded Dawn on the back. “I’m so glad you lived to tell the tale!”

  One by one, the Phyon Sumrects came up to shake her hand and thank her for her bravery. Even Blair looked at Dawn with newfound respect.

  “Thank you for saving us… and him.” She nodded toward Ansel, who had taken Moira’s hand and led her to join Pam and the Brightons.

  “He has been waiting for you… for a very long time.” Blair laughed at the shock on Dawn’s face. “Don’t worry! I won’t say a word to anyone else.”

  She winked as Nico walked up next to her. “Ansel’s all yours!”

  Then, throwing her arms over Nico’s shoulder, Blair left a dumbfounded Dawn to mull over the meaning of what she just said.

  It was Henry who brought Dawn back to the present with a poke in the arm. “Are you ready?”

  Ready? She had been waiting to reunite with her parents for so long she feared at any moment, she would wake from a dream that seemed too miraculous to be real. She glanced at her brother and nodded.

  Together, they headed to Ansel, who was returning to Riesa the cross she had given him for protection at Nymion Clearing.

  Riesa accepted the silver necklace and earnestly shook Ansel’s hand with both of hers. “Thank you for what you did for my son and us.”

  “Thank you, Ms. Lang, for believing,” he said.

  “What happens next, Ansel? Will you be Tempeia’s new ruler?” Max paused in his storytelling to ask.

  Ansel bowed his head. “Not me, but a human leader and a new governing body shall be decided upon by the citizens of Tempeia. I’m sure your son will play an important role in reestablishing the first human settlement in this realm as what we had originally envisioned… a beacon of hope and freedom. I will always be Tempeia’s protector, as I am Phyon’s… But first…”

  He turned to Dawn and Henry, who walked up to join him. “We’ll be taking a long-awaited trip…”

  With a wave to the Langs, Ansel led the Rene siblings to the ancient willow by the rotunda.

  From afar, each holding an amber-cored orb, Dawn and Henry watched the humans and Sumrects laugh and share in the evening together. The summer air never smelled so sweet, and the star-sprinkled sky never appeared as clear. The Eye of Elektron glowed brighter with each passing second until they were enveloped in nothing but light. Dawn exchanged a smile with Ansel beside her, knowing they have been and always will be.

  Finally, after eleven long years, they found their way home.

  THE END

  Author’s Note

  Thank you for reading!

  My first novel, The Eye of Elektron, took me ten years to conceive, write and publish. The story is very dear to me, and it means a lot that you chose to take a chance on this book. I would love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to send a message directly to leigh@leighgwynn.com.

  If you enjoyed the story and have a few minutes, please consider leaving an honest review (it does not have to be long) by clicking on the links below. Every review is important and helps to bring this novel to the attention of other readers. Your feedback will be greatly valued. Thank you in advance!

  Review The Eye of Elektron on Amazon

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  As a token of appreciation for diving into the Sumrectian world, I have prepared for you a free book, The Exiled Heir, written from Ansel’s perspective. CLICK HERE to find out what Ansel thought of Dawn when they first met.

  Wondering what’s next in the series? Keep reading for a preview of Amber and Ansel’s first encounter twenty years ago in the The Blood of Belua, book two of The Sumrectian Series, which will be released late 2021.

  Thank you for joining me on this adventure, dear reader, and I hope we meet again soon within the pages of my next book!

  ~Leigh

  The Blood of Belua

  The Sumrectian Series Book Two

  An unlikely assassin. An impossible mission. An entire city perched on a dangerous secret.

  Sign up for the newsletter and be the first to find out when The Blood of Belua is published (usually at a discount for the first 48 hours).

  https://www.leighgwynn.com/get-in-touch.html

  You will also receive a free copy of The Exiled Heir, which tells of Ansel’s initial meeting with Dawn through his perspective.

  Turn the page to read the first two chapters right now…

  Please enjoy the following excerpt from book two of The Sumrectian Series, The Blood of Belua.

  C
opyright 2021 Leigh G. Wynn

  All Rights Reserved

  Chapter 1

  Amber Chesterfield was tired of living in a society where her existence did not matter. She was tired of working at below minimum wage jobs and playing night gigs at bars just to make ends meet. She was tired of wondering if she could make the rent this month to the nosy landlord who creeped on her every move. She was tired of hitching rides with strangers and walking long miles home on frigid winter nights because public transport did not service people like her. She was tired of the looks people threw at her when they found out she was different.

  Most of all, she was tired of being untagged.

  Although her parents had the best intentions when they moved off-grid and refused the government’s directive to tag her as a child, they did not foresee the slew of prejudices she later had to endure as an untagged young adult. At nineteen, she waited tables while her peers headed off to professional career trainings. Their bright futures only highlighted her own bleak reality.

  A life of misery awaited her. Unless she became tagged.

  And so, she stood before the reflective walls of the towering Human Recalibration Center—or HRC for short—one hot summer day, ready to give up to the State what her parents had desperately fought to protect: Her right to choose. She understood their desire to safeguard a treasured way of life. But times had changed. Society advanced. If she wanted to thrive, she must make the appropriate sacrifice.

  A blissful couple passed her on the steps leading to the entrance. Amber did not need to hear the beep from the overhead scanner to know they were already tagged; happy faces rarely belonged to society’s outcasts. The thick glass front doors that opened to allow them inside slammed shut when Amber approached—another reminder of her inferior status.