Fate Of Water And Wind: The Osparia Series Book One

Copyright Copyright © 2022 by Lashell Rain All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. Cover done by Miblart Dear Reader, This book contains mature content. Material includes: Explicit sexual scenes, graphic violence, talk of genocide, violence through fire, imprisonment/captivity, torture, loss, grief, war, attempted SA (not by the MMC) Contents Dedication Title Page Emelyn & Ace Map of Osparia 1. Chapter One 2. Chapter Two 3. Chapter Three 4. Chapter Four 5. Chapter Five 6. Chapter Six 7. Chapter Seven 8. Chapter Eight 9. Chapter Nine 10. Chapter Ten 11. Chapter Eleven 12. Chapter Twelve 13. Chapter Thirteen 14. Chapter Fourteen 15. Chapter Fifteen 16. Chapter Sixteen 17. Chapter Seventeen 18. Chapter Eighteen 19. Chapter Nineteen 20. Chapter Twenty 21. Chapter Twenty-One 22. Chapter Twenty-Two 23. Chapter Twenty-Three 24. Chapter Twenty-Four 25. Chapter Twenty-Five 26. Chapter Twenty-Six 27. Chapter Twenty-Seven 28. Chapter Twenty-Eight 29. Chapter Twenty-Nine 30. Chapter Thirty 31. Chapter Thirty-One 32. Chapter Thirty-Two 33. Chapter Thirty-Three 34. Chapter Thirty-Four 35. Chapter Thirty-Five 36. Chapter Thirty-Six 37. Chapter Thirty-Seven 38. Chapter Thirty-Eight 39. Chapter Thirty-Nine 40. Chapter Forty 41. Forty-One 42. Chapter Forty-Two 43. Chapter Forty-Three 44. Chapter Forty-Four 45. Chapter Forty-Five Thank You Acknowledgments About The Author Dedication To those who have unseen wounds— I see you. Chapter One Emelyn The steep rugged mountainside had turned into a web of snow and ice. We had been climbing Heavensreach all morning, determined to reach the highest peak where the pojo tea leaves bloomed. This had become our yearly tradition, honoring our loved ones that had fallen to Ember’s cruel soldiers. Ace trudged through the knee-deep snow in front of me, leading the way to our spot on the mountain. As we made it over the snow-capped peak, I looked over the open horizon. It reminded me every time we made the climb how this place got its name. The clouds floated lower than the mountaintop and as the sun set in the distance, it was as though you could step out and walk on them. Lovely pinks and purples cascaded through them like a door to another world. It was just as breathtaking this year as it had been the last. I turned away from the open expanse, and that was when I saw it. The destruction. The ruins that were once a bustling, beautiful city full of laughter and life as Sky Elves flew above the mountains were now nothing but charred wood and stone left behind from the crumbling buildings and homes. I looked to see Ace on his knees a few paces from me, kneeling on the cold ground of everything he once knew, reminiscing about his way of life from before. His thick hooded cloak wrapped around him for warmth and concealed his feathered ebony wings, that he kept tucked into his back, and his extended pointed ears, a common trait amongst his kind. Ember had come, seeking the destruction of every Sky Elf, and they had almost succeeded. Life in Esora was never the same. Every inch of ground held a memory of a loved one—a people nearly extinguished for standing with the Sky Elves against Ember. I’d lost both of my parents on that battlefield, and Ace had lost his alongside me. It burned the memories of their deaths in my mind, the way the Fire Fae soldiers scorched the earth, mountain, and our people. Ace and I had made a promise to each other after we lost everything: we’d stay together always. Living every day in Esora, repeating our tragedies, became too much, and as long as Ace remained hidden, we were free to explore the world. Ember had already taken almost everything from us, and we refused to let them have any more control. They’d sentenced us to be orphaned, but we wouldn’t let them sentence us into a life of misery. We always kept an eye out for more of Ace’s kind, but we never had success. We had all suffered losses from the war, but I couldn’t imagine what it would be like living in a world where your entire kind had been extinguished from the wrath of Ember’s Fire Fae. My thoughts often drifted to that day, when we’d first heard word of Ember’s upcoming attack. It was said in the letter before the war started that Ember believed the next chosen was amongst the Sky Elves. I’d asked Ace a million times over the years if he was sure he wasn’t the Peacebringer. Sometimes he’d sign to me his frustration with the question and assure me he wasn’t; other times he’d tell me to fuck off. The thought made me chuckle under my breath and pulled me back to reality. I walked to his side. “Ace,” I whispered, but he could still hear me. He lifted his hand without looking in my direction and signed, “Give me a minute, Eme.” I nodded and stepped away. This was something he did every time we visited Heavensreach: paying respect by kneeling to those that had been forgotten. I moved back to the mountain’s ledge, taking a seat to admire the beautiful view. My feet dangled over the edge of the blissful scene in front of me, and the blanket of pillowy landscape beckoned me into its embrace, but what lay just beneath was a long free fall to death. Before we set up camp for the night and harvested our tea to drink around the fire. We would head back down the mountain at dawn to visit our village, and Willow, for a while before we went on the move again. We hadn’t seen her since last winter. Normally, we tried to visit every spring and winter when pojo bloomed, but last year we were too far in our travels to get back in time. We always sent her letters during our time away, though. Ace clapped