Act I – The Ascent Mist clung to the ridgelines like a second skin, a gray-blue breath that softened the sawteeth of the Appalachians until they looked almost merciful. Cole guided his old pickup along the ribbon of two-lane road that threaded through the hills, one hand steady on the wheel, the other worrying the fray on the cuff of his jacket. The radio had given up on music two counties back and settled into a low static that reminded him of rain on a tent. He let it whisp

Part One: Flight Across the Desert The highway stretched like a black ribbon through the desert night, its edges swallowed by sand and...

The Struggles of a Young Smith The winter wind clawed through the village, sharp as a knife, carrying the smell of smoke and sickness. Frost clung to the thatched roofs, turning every breath into a ghost. Inside the forge, the fire roared, but Darian still shivered. Sweat slid down his soot-streaked face as he fought with the iron bar glowing in his tongs. He had hammered it flat, then curved it, only to watch cracks spread like veins through its surface. Another day ruined.

Prologue   Jerusalem slept uneasily beneath the silver gaze of the moon. In the tangled streets above, dogs barked and merchants snored,...

Part 1: Thread of Light Daniel Rhys awoke with tears on his cheeks. They were not tears of sorrow but something harder to name—something luminous and aching, like a memory just out of reach. It felt like a memory that didn’t belong to this life. His sheets clung to him like mist, the sweat cooling against his skin in the pre-dawn quiet. A low hum reverberated through his bones, like the fading chord of a forgotten song. The room was still, but the air vibrated as if the dream

Part 1: Before the Storm The storm had arrived without warning—thunder rolling like a drumbeat from some forgotten age, lightning...

by Bill Combs Part I: The Contraction Gabe Whitman moved through the morning like a ghost in his own life. The alarm chirped at 6:05...

He sat alone on the ledge, legs dangling over the edge like a child teasing gravity. Seattle spread below him, draped in the last violet...

By Bill Combs      Part 1: The Locker Door to Nowhere I’ve always suspected that my locker was trying to kill me. Maybe it’s the way the...

Part I: The Cracks in the Mirror The kettle screamed in protest as Elara forgot it — again. She stood in the middle of her kitchen,...

I. The Gift and the Isolation Amari was born in the eye of a solar storm. They said the sky split open that night — the stars blurred...

Ethan Pierce sat in his office, surrounded by books and papers, staring at his computer screen with an intensity that made his eyes ache....

In the late autumn of 1925, deep in the Black Forest of Germany, a young Albert Einstein sought solitude in a rustic cabin tucked away...