I wrote this for EVERYONE. An introduction to my universe.Best for slow , attentive , close reading. Stick with it. When you get to the action parts (which doesn't take long ) you should be invested enough to want to unravel the mystery and enjoy its intrigue..
The flood is raging.
A terrifying, heartless mountain of water, swallowing the world in inevitable finality. The tunnel networks? Of course, that won't save them. The forests? Like leaves in a breeze. The lookout towers and trade hubs? Gone. Washed clean. What does it take to take everything? Every home, every name, every last trace of what once was. And who would do such a thing? And how? No one has ever seen anything that would make them believe in magic.
Gamleon is the first to see and to survive. His mind near collapse under the strain, his heart broken. He runs. What would you do? What could anyone do?
A world of mythological beasts and medieval men, where Gorgon hordes slither beneath the earth, clawing for metal, for power, for anything. But they come for your children. Opulent kings wage wars over things no one can even recall, blind to the coming obliteration.
There is an isolated, forgotten place. A cavern, magnificent and vast, older than civilization. A place where the weird and the unwanted might ride out the cataclysm. In this special place, something incredible, cut off from the outside, lurks. Something... you won't be ready for or ever expect.
Our weary, world-worn adventurer is a paradox: terrifying perhaps, yet tender, grotesque but with a quiet dignity bordering on noble, intimidating and innately intelligent. With no choice but to navigate the unexpected Gorgon tunnels, his inner thoughts help us all learn how to persist and triumph in the face of impossible odds. Join him and be swept away as he reconciles never-before-seen innovations and insurmountable challenges. Dignity and hope. Self-respect and courage.
Gwyneth had always felt connected to her faith, a higher power presiding over her.
That faith had shaken that devastating day those years ago, the day that went on to haunt her every nightmare for years to come.
She's still trying to come back from it, to not only restore her faith in life and love, but her faith in herself. The sanctity of her spirit- she prayed for resolve. Every punch was a prayer. Every mile was a hymn. Until her knuckles bled and her knees gave.
Azriel had been surrounded by darkness his whole life, a poison on his world, on his being.
He exercised restraint in his every waking moment, banishing that darkness within himself. Some guessed of the strain it put on him, but no one knew the extent of it, how deep his scars ran.
It was better this way, he was sure. He had always thought that if there were a higher power- which he wholly doubted- such deities must loathe him to have burdened him such darkness. He hadn't much faith in the gods anyway, much less faith that he could sway their opinion on him.
But Gwyneth and Azriel did have one thing in common: the quiet fight within themselves. They only knew one way: to go about it alone, couldn't fathom letting another in. But there's a magic in finding someone who is your equal but opposite, something transforming.
And frankly, Gwyneth and Azriel could both use a little magic.
All characters owned by SJM in the ACOTAR series. Story takes place after the events of ACOSF. Aligns with the events in my other fic: A Storm of Flames and Deceit. I haven't finished Crescent City, so this story takes place outside of the events of those books as well.
CONTENT WARNING 鈿狅笍
Mentions of r*pe, use of profanity, explicit content, sexual content, violence, torture, mentions of suicidal thoughts and depression, mentions of self harm