The Sunset Lands Beyond (The Complete Series, Books 1-3): An epic portal fantasy boxed set

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The Sunset Lands Beyond (The Complete Series, Books 1-3): An epic portal fantasy boxed set Page 1

by Sarah Ashwood




  The Sunset Lands Beyond Trilogy

  Sarah Ashwood

  Contents

  Aerisia: Land Beyond the Sunset

  Prophecy of the Artan

  Prologue

  Part One

  Laytrii

  1. Mysterious Stranger

  2. Visitor from Lands Beyond

  3. In Aerisia

  4. Council

  5. The Council Table

  6. Moonstones and Doors

  7. Legends and Lore

  8. Moonkind Magic

  9. So Be It

  10. Attack!

  11. Simathe

  12. Night Watch

  13. Balcony Incident

  14. The Artan?

  15. Decisions

  16. History over Breakfast

  17. Frustration

  18. Moonkind and Simathe

  19. Drocnords

  20. The Joining Explained

  21. Unwelcome Intruder

  Part Two

  Treygon

  22. Nighttime Escape

  23. Preparations

  24. Farewell to Laytrii

  25. Aureeyah

  26. Suspicions

  27. Mystery

  28. Fairy Forest

  29. Parallel Worlds

  30. Morning

  31. Attack

  32. Deathcats

  33. Arrival at Treygon

  34. Treygon’s Guest

  35. Waking the Artan

  36. Dinner

  37. Discussion

  38. The Joining

  Part Three

  Joined

  39. Confronting the High-Chief

  40. Grand Entrance

  41. Planning

  42. Disaster

  43. Softening

  44. Cole

  45. Telepaths

  46. Trickery

  47. To Break a Prophecy

  48. Protector

  49. Nightmares

  About the Author

  Books In The Sunset Lands Beyond Trilogy

  Works by Sarah Ashwood

  Aerisia: Gateway to the Underworld

  Prophecy of the Artan

  Prologue

  Part One

  Command and Become

  1. A Shell

  2. First…Kiss?

  3. Explosion

  4. The Artan After All?

  5. Mind Search

  6. The Prophecy

  7. Visitors

  8. Sword of a Queen

  9. Swordplay

  10. Classifications of Magic

  11. Progress

  12. Going Back

  13. Pain

  Part Two

  Return to Laytrii

  14. Fairy Homecoming

  15. Laytrii Once More

  16. The Adragon

  17. Rumors

  18. Reunion

  19. Twists and Turns

  20. Murder

  21. Passion and Fear

  22. Inner City Battle

  23. The Singing Bridge

  24. Their Artan

  25. Challenge

  26. Sun-borne Promise

  Part Three

  Discoveries, Dreams

  27. The Healing

  28. Sacrifice

  29. Friends

  30. Preparations

  31. The Instating

  32. Under the Moon

  33. Traitor?

  34. Disclosures

  35. Lineage

  36. The Singing Stones

  37. The Dream

  38. Shared Visions

  39. Trapped

  About the Author

  Books In The Sunset Lands Beyond Trilogy

  Works by Sarah Ashwood

  Aerisia: Field of Battle

  Prophecy of the Artan

  Prologue

  Part One

  Underworld Journey

  1. The Gate of Despair

  2. Grotto of Crystal Life

  3. Heldwyn

  4. Knowledge and Secrets

  5. Iilane

  6. The Interpreter

  7. Unexpected Ally

  8. Dreams Come to Life

  9. Narrow Escape

  Part Two

  Treachery

  10. Betrayals, Confessions

  11. Plans

  12. Kan

  13. Deliverance

  14. Traitor Revealed

  15. Wakefulness

  16. Underlying Causes

  17. Farewells

  18. Rebellion

  19. Punishment

  20. The Captain’s Lady

  21. Pirate Queen

  22. Sea Monster

  23. Rescue

  24. Shayle

  Part Three

  Last Battle, Final Victory

  25. Dragons

  26. Victory and Defeat

  27. Torture

  28. Awakened

  29. Final Farewells

  30. Silver Rose

  31. Restoration

  32. Encouragement

  33. Ranetron and Spinner

  34. Dark Power

  35. The Artan

  36. The Encounter

  37. The Dark One Revealed

  38. Becoming…

  39. …yet not

  Part Four

  Death is not the end

  40. Defeat in Victory

  41. Broken Stone

  42. The Artan’s Return

  43. Celebration, Culmination

  44. An Artan’s Reward

  Note to the Reader

  About the Author

  Books In The Sunset Lands Beyond Trilogy

  Works by Sarah Ashwood

  Aerisia: Land Beyond the Sunset

  Copyright © 2019 by Sarah Ashwood

  Editing by Red Adept Editing Services

  Formatting by Polgarus Studio and Dragonpen Press

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Excepting brief review quotes, this book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written permission of the copyright holder. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, real events, locations, or organizations is purely coincidental.

  Created with Vellum

  For Hannah, Mercy, Carol, and Susan: my first readers who patiently endured the original draft.

  Prophecy of the Artan

  She is of our world and beyond. From another place, another time, she will come. She carries the burden of tomorrow, and her true essence will be birthed with the moon and the dawn. The Singing Stones once more will sing, and she shall unite those long hated with those who long have feared them. Unity with the everlasting will heal her soul, lifting the eternal from rejection and fear. She will be untouched by man and untainted by The Evil. In her will be met all the Powers of Good, and with them shall she defeat The Evil. The Dark Powers she shall overcome by becoming, yet not. Bound to the past, the bond will be broken that she may pass through the vales of shadow and despair to walk forevermore in the light. Wars may rage, kingdoms rise and fall, and monarchs topple, but the Artan will defend her people. Aerisia by her strength will be kept, and in her time peace will prosper.

  Prologue

  Wealth, power, fame, status, notoriety, prestige.

  Magic.

  Some people spend their whole lives chasing these dreams. Others purposefully avoid them. Me, I neither sought nor shunned them, but they came to me anyway, unasked and unwanted.


  Why?

  Because others believe what I do not. Others see me as somebody I don’t know. They want me to become this person, but how can I do that when I’m not even sure she exists? If I’m wrong and she actually does exist, how can I discover her? How can I become her? When you’ve been ordinary your entire life, is it possible to reinvent yourself into someone you’ve never met, never known, never even heard of before? Someone from history? Someone from legend? Someone from prophecy?

  Someone with magic?

  Part One

  Laytrii

  Mysterious Stranger

  “Hannah, what are you doing? Why are you just standing around? They’ll be here in a little over an hour.”

  My older sister’s voice was tight with frustration. She lowered a stack of plates to the dining room table more forcefully than the delicate china deserved. I winced to see our mother’s treasured dishes treated that way, but, thankfully, nothing was broken.

  “Everything’s done already,” I reminded Sammie patiently, determined not to answer her in kind and add to her stress. After all, I knew it wasn’t directed at me. She’d gotten engaged to her college boyfriend a few weeks ago, and his family was coming to our family’s home this evening for a meet-the-in-laws dinner. She was nervous, wanting everything to go perfectly.

  “What about vacuuming the downstairs?”

  “Did it as soon as I got home from work.”

  Currently, I worked part-time for my father at the Westman Times, our local newspaper, which he owned and operated. I enjoyed helping out around the place, as well as learning the ins and outs of running a small town newspaper. I was also taking classes from our local community college, and between the two managed to keep myself busy.

  “What about the bathrooms?”

  “Cleaned and stocked,” I assured her. “Harli Jean took care of them this morning before she left for school.”

  Harli Jean was our youngest sister. At fifteen, she was bright, pretty, a sophomore in high school, and well on her way academically to earning a scholarship to Colorado University, where she’d always said she’d attend. She and our dad were huge Buffs fans, and had been since she was a young kid and started watching college football with him.

  I wasn’t a big fan of football myself, and had no grandiose dreams such as attending CU or joining the Air Force, like our middle brother, George. He would finish high school soon, and was already making plans to enter the service upon graduating. Sometimes, I felt like the only one of my siblings without a firm direction in life. Sammie had graduated college two years ago, and had been employed as a teacher ever since. Teaching was her dream, and now that she and Jeff were engaged, it seemed her other dreams were coming true, as well. George and Harli Jean, although both younger than me, knew what they wanted out of life, so where did that leave me? With no steady boyfriend, undecided on a career, and still living at home while I figured out the next phase of life. It wasn’t that I lacked ambition: I knew I wanted something out of life, and I thought I was headed in the right direction. I just wasn’t exactly sure what it was that I wanted. My calling was waiting on me. When I found it, I’d throw myself into it wholeheartedly. I simply needed to figure it out first.

  “So the dusting’s done, the iced tea is made, dessert is in the oven, and the wine is being chilled. Can you think of anything else?”

  My tall, blonde sister straightened from where she’d been leaning over the table, centering plates and twitching linen napkins, making sure everything was perfect.

  “Nope, and you need to chill, sis,” spoke up Harli Jean, who came sauntering into the dining room. “Here have a drink. It’ll calm you down.”

  I laughed when she held out a can of soda pop towards our older sister. “I don’t think that’s going to do anything except get her more hyper, Harli.”

  “Ew, I don’t see how you can drink that nasty stuff,” Sammie said, wrinkling her nose in distaste. “Don’t you know how unhealthy it is?”

  “Sure tastes good, though.” Harli tipped the can up to gulp down a big swig. “Mmmm mmm, delicious.”

  I laughed again, but Sammie didn’t think it was funny. “Stop it, Harli Jean. Why don’t you go find something constructive to do?”

  “Hannah just told you everything’s done, and it is,” the teen responded. “Martha Stewart would approve. I’ll go in the kitchen anyway, and see if Mom needs help.

  “At least that’ll get me away from you,” she muttered as she sauntered off, stealing another sip from her soda can.

  Watching her, I grinned and shook my head, but looked back over at my older sister in time to see worry cloud her vision.

  “I don’t know, do you think this looks okay? Jeff said his mom can be pretty picky. What if it isn’t good enough? What if I’m not good enough?”

  “Okay, stop.” Grabbing her by the hand, I drew her out from behind the table. “It’s fine. Everything looks great. You’re great, you and Jeff are happy together, and I’m sure that’s all his parents really care about it. Now stop fussing and go upstairs and get dressed. You only have an hour to get all beautified,” I teased, “and it may take you that long to get your hair and makeup perfect.”

  She looked like she wanted to protest, but I spun her around and gave her a push in the direction of the stairs to get her going.

  “No arguments,” I demanded. “Mom and Harli Jean have everything under control. Go on and get ready. I’m going outside to talk to George and warn him to be nice when Jeff’s parents show up.”

  Sammie stopped on the bottom stair, craning her neck to look back at me. “Thank you,” she sighed in relief. “I was going to, but he’ll listen to you better.”

  “I know, I have the magic touch with men,” I smirked. “They’re like putty in my hands. You don’t have to worry about him causing any problems. Go on, get going, girl.”

  My older sister took to the stairs and I opened the front door, heading outside. George had finished cutting the front lawn, and was putting the mower away when I caught him.

  “Hey, George,” I called, waving my arm to get his attention.

  He spotted me and extracted an ear bud from his left ear. “Yo, what’s up?” he hollered back, bumping a hip against the big, stubborn door of Dad’s workshop to force it closed.

  “I wanted to talk to you for a sec,” I said, jogging over. “You know Jeff and his family are coming for dinner tonight, right? Well, Sammie’s really nervous. She wants everything to go well, and—”

  “I know, I know,” my brother interrupted, rolling his eyes. “You want me to be nice to Jeff and use company manners in front of his family. I promise I’ll be good. Jeff may not be my best friend, but I can play nice for Sammie’s sake for an evening.”

  “Wow, how’d you get so mature all of the sudden?” I grinned, reaching out to tussle his short, curly hair.

  “Stop that,” my brother demanded, shying away. “I’m not a kid anymore, okay?”

  “Sorry.” I dropped my hands back to my sides. “What’s your deal with Jeff, anyhow? He’s a nice enough guy.”

  “I guess.” Shrugging his shoulders, George shuffled his feet, keeping his gaze downward as if embarrassed about what he was going to confess. “It’s just—she’s my big sister, y’know? I’m not sure he’s really good enough for her…even if she can be a major pain in the butt sometimes.”

  I couldn’t disagree with that assessment. “She can be when she gets all frazzled, huh? Like now. Man, she’s been driving me nuts all day. In fact, I was going to escape the madness and go for a little walk before Jeff’s family arrives. That’s why I said I’d come out here and talk to you. It was really an excuse to sneak off.”

 

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