FIRST BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES OF FANTASILIA SERIES
𝘈𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘦-𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘺. 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯. 𝘈 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳.
Xanthiene Vivenca's life drones on in a cycle of finding her next meal, ensuring...
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Spirits of the Most High Gods fulfill my wish.
The air thickened. A hand squeezed Xanthy's chest. She gasped and fell sideways. Her cheek hit the ground but it could barely scratch up to the sound of her body bursting with light. Her vision blurred; her throat closed up. Limbs flailed outside her control. Something came back out her mouth. It tasted like rust.
Remove the bonds, unravel the soul, went the chant.
Pain tore at her flesh and stabbed at her heart. Too much. Her friends' struggles were lost in her ears. Where did Marin go? Where was everyone?
It was pitch black.
Be the guide now that I enter the sacred place.
A woman stood over her. Lips moved in a thumping chant. Bells rang but maybe those were just Xanthy's ears. Queenly, white teeth shone in a vile glimmer through Xanthy's fading vision.
Reveal the light and let me touch the rays.
The world vanished in a sea of light. It burned Xanthy's eyes, her skin, her soul. She screamed but no sound came out. Or maybe, her throat had been ripped off her neck already. Rhythmic pain pulsed in her head, in her limbs.
Let me touch the gift and bring it back home.
The rest of the spell poured in a rapid torrent in her ears. She gagged. Retched. Nothing came out. From her ebbing sense, she watched the lights gather to a point and solidify into a sphere. The sphere sung a tale of vengeance, of regret. Of endless power and hidden might.
Then, the orb of light tore into two. Cold seeped into her veins as the sound of her soul ripping echoed in the empty cavern of her mind. Every tear, each fracture. Warmth ebbed from her skin. She was...far away.
Her eyes stopped seeing; her ears refused to hear. She...
Was back in her house?
Was everything just a dream, then? Oh. Xanthy thought for a second that it's all real. Thank the gods. Oh, that was one terrifying dream.
"Xanthiene, your food is ready!" a woman called from behind the wall to the kitchen. Xanthy yelped and pressed herself to the wall. A girl whizzed past her. A girl with khaki hair, plump cheeks, chestnut brown eyes, and small nose. A girl...who looked exactly like her.
What's going on? Where was she? Why wasn't she feeling any pain?
The walls struck her as odd. Instead of the peeling paint and the mess of lichen eating away at the bricks, they were scrubbed clean. New. The floor was shiny. The backdoor...still intact. It was what her house would look like if the years that did haven't passed.
It's as if...
I do not remember anything before I was ten. Her own voice echoed in her mind. The girl who looked like her was younger than ten. This was...
