Excerpt

Ava

Whispers. Beckoning. The trees in the distance rustled as if in greeting, urging me to take the leap, and shed my dismal life.

If only I had the courage.

I scraped caked-in blood from my ragged fingertips. Me and the other workers had toiled for hours while the cold wind blew at our backs.

As I stood at the top of The Wall, overlooking what was left of the Old World, I coughed and rubbed at my frozen nose. Wetness smeared on my knuckles, only making me colder.

From this high up, the quiet and peace was worth every frozen finger and toe. For a moment, I pretended to be free, picturing myself at the helm of a ship as it sailed across the Karcadian Sea.

Veruth was the largest kingdom on the Aranthian continent, but none of us would know it. We'd never been outside of those walls.

"See anything, Ava?" Ford asked, breaking me from my thoughts. He called up from the platform just below mine. "Any monsters? Anything at all?"

I glanced down at him, his murky, brown eyes hooded by thick black hair that constantly whipped into his face as the Northern winds continued their assault.

Taking another look, I wished I had seen something. Was the mysterious Dark out there, floating around and breeding new terrors like the elves and our ancestors said?

So far, I'd never seen it. Some wondered if it even existed. Centuries had passed since it had shown itself. No luck catching a glimpse today. But, to the east, over the city, I did see the magical Sky Keep where the elvish monks lived. Though faint, I could see wyverns flying above it, weaving in and out of the thick clouds.

I'd give anything to go there one day, even if just for a moment.

I shook my head. "Nothing," I said, glancing back up as I held onto the black pole at the top of the stone structure meant to protect us from the creatures across the wall.

The unnerving silence on the other side always captivated me since I'd taken this job. While we were slaves within the walls, there was such eerie beauty in the wilderness. As I gazed into the horizon, mountains emerged from the thick green of the forest, and the sea stretched all across the east.

This was just my first week helping tar and stack heavy stones onto the top. For years, the humans had made the wall taller and more fortified, and each year we began to wonder whether it was meant to keep something out…or to keep us in.

I already knew the answer to that question, but we worked nonetheless, feigning ignorance and convincing ourselves that the sun elves who had invaded our land had our safety in mind.

"Oy," a loud shout came from far to the right.

I shuddered, turning to meet the hawk-like glare of Hyatt, the task master. Silvery-white hair whipped around my face as our gazes met.

His pointed ears were red from the cold, yet the cruelty in his glowing amber eyes betrayed nothing of his discomfort.

I dreaded the lashing of his long, enchanted whip, lip trembling as I eyed it, waiting for it to snap out and slash my face or back open.

Damned sun elf. It was as if our peace only angered them even though we did the menial work that built the city. Nonetheless, we kept our heads down, executed our tasks, and sealed our mouths closed.

"Get back to work," he ordered, and everyone turned their attention to their respective jobs pulling stones up from the ground.

There were hundreds on the wall, old and young, children, and the outcast class of gnomes. No matter where we came from, we were all slaves.

Quickly ducking down, I accepted the next block of stone and used all of my strength to slide it to the top of the wall. As I leaned down and got the next one, a wyvern swept in, stunning me. Black wings blotted out the faint light of the sun, silver claws glistening.

Instead of flying away, it lunged into my face, knocking me from the safety of my spot on the platform.

I screamed. Though I tried to catch myself, another gust of wind blew at me and my descent into the foggy abyss began.

Ford reached for me.

He missed, his hand sliding up my arm and catching nothing but air.

My scream caught in my throat as I realized I was falling to my inevitable death. The Wall was hundreds of feet tall, so tall that most days the clouds met us halfway, leaving mist on our faces.

No matter how much I flailed, the fall continued to pick up speed. A cry of pain ripped from my lips as something wrapped itself around my ankle.

I slammed into the side of the wall, foot, ankle, and leg burning with pain—pain that was nothing compared to the cracking of my skull against the stone.

I heard them screaming my name.

Yet, the darkness called it the loudest.