The Bridge to Magic

Table of Contents Praise for the Bridge to Magic The sundered Web Book 1 | The Bridge to Magic | Alex Thornbury CHAPTER ONE | The Bridge to Magic CHAPTER TWO | The Echo of Magic CHAPTER THREE | The Uncontained Magic CHAPTER FOUR | The Blight CHAPTER FIVE | Mite’s Decision CHAPTER SIX | The Hunt for the Mage CHAPTER SEVEN | The Temple of Mercy CHAPTER EIGHT | The Purge CHAPTER NINE | The King’s Decree CHAPTER TEN | The Destruction of Mercy CHAPTER ELEVEN | The Peter Pockets’ Ambition CHAPTER TWELVE | The Mage at the Bridge CHAPTER THIRTEEN | The Pack CHAPTER FOURTEEN | The Fall of Terren CHAPTER FIFTEEN | Life Between Two Deaths CHAPTER SIXTEEN | The Bridge to Magic Author’s Note ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Alex Thornbury | The Rogue Mage A Sneak Peak: CHAPTER ONE | Al-Terren About the Author Praise for the Bridge to Magic 2022 Royal Dragonfly Book Award Winner for Science Fiction/Fantasy –––––––– “This is dark fantasy at its best... The more creative descriptions of the darkness that threatens humanity pull the narrative somewhere between horror and fantasy... a delightful read with a voice that works and prose that is bold and enticing. But it is the immersive world of this creation that will have most readers turning the pages.” —The Book Commentary –––––––– “...stunning page-turner ... original, captivating, and readers may be surprised to find this is the author’s debut novel. The storyline is absolutely mesmerizing, and Thornbury has a knack for telling a dark story. And I do mean dark.” —Reader Views –––––––– “This was a really great introduction into the Sundered Web series. Alex is wonderfully skilled in world building and this book is a prime example of that. Her wonderful descriptions create beautiful and vivid imagery. It's almost like the reader becomes Elika.” —NetGalley Reviewer –––––––– “An intriguing YA fantasy featuring harsh magic, a brutal world, and a tenacious hero. In many fantasy stories, magic is assumed to be a force that reflects humanity itself: wielded by a few adepts for their own purposes, and therefore likely to be benevolent, cheerful, or amusing. The first book in Alex Thornbury’s Sundered Web series does something different and surprising...” —Independent Book Review –––––––– “A wonderful fantasy story for teens and adults... The author has a great imagination and whilst this book is a complete story in itself I look forward to the sequel.” —Booksprout Reviewer –––––––– “Expertly crafted and highly readable... Mesmerising. A horde of surprizing plot twists and magical intrigue mark Thornbury’s debut instalment in The Sundered Web series. “ —The Prairies Book Review –––––––– “... thought provoking ... enchanting novel.” —Sally Altass. Author of the Witch Laws –––––––– “The Bridge to Magic is well written and draws you in from the start. Well-paced and filled with good characters... a quality entry into the fantasy genre.” —Christian Warren Freed, Author of The Lazarus Men –––––––– “The Bridge to Magic” is a magnificent high fantasy debut by exciting new author, Alex Thornbury. Dark and foreboding, while equally alluring and addicting—as the first book in The Sundered Web trilogy, The sundered Web Book 1 The Bridge to Magic –––––––– Alex Thornbury –––––––– The Bridge to Magic is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. –––––––– Copyright © 2022 Alex Thornbury All rights reserved. Distributed by Shadow Lore Publishing First Edition: February 2023 –––––––– No part of this book may be reproduced or modified in any form, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner, except for the use of quotations in a book review. –––––––– Cover artwork by Alejandro Colucci –––––––– eBook ISBN 978-0-6454970-1-4 US Edition –––––––– www.alexthornbury.com To my friend and mentor Brian Keaney. For your tireless insights and endless patience. Thank you for helping me cross my own bridge to magic. CHAPTER ONEThe Bridge to Magic “To understand the history of our realm of Seramight, we must first understand the nature of the world we live in. Three realms of life circle each other in the dark Abyss, bound together by the Great Web. The celestial realm is ruled by the gods, the ethereal by the tsaren. Our own earthly sphere was ruled by the Kings of the Sacred Crowns for three thousand years, before Tsarin Reval destroyed their illustrious houses in the Sundering War.” History of Men, Gods and Magic, By Priest Oderrin –––––––– All stories began and ended at the Bridge to Magic. So it has been for six hundred years—the story of this age, the story of the battle against magic and its banishment after the Sundering War. And Elika’s story, too, began with the bridge. Were you to ask any man, woman or child, they would say their earliest memory was the first time they beheld its dark path or heard whispered tales of it in their cots. There was a time before the bridge was forged, but those stories had been mostly forgotten. The dark history of that bygone age was now buried in the archives of the priests. Only the echoes of it remained on the tongues of minstrels and drunks. Elika had heard them