The Ember Trail
The air reeked of pine resin and iron as Clara dug through the dirt, her calloused fingers trembling. The sun hung low over the Sierra Nevada, casting long shadows across the mine shaft where she’d spent the last three years.…
Survival
Read MoreThe Ember Trail
The Last Broadcast
The *Odyssey* hung in the void like a rusted coin, its hull scarred by decades of solar winds. Captain Mara Voss gripped the rail of the observation deck, her breath fogging the glass as she stared at the planet below.…
The Weight of Ashes
The air reeked of burnt oak and iron. Clara knelt in the dirt, her fingers digging into the soil as the distant boom of cannon fire rattled the windows of the farmhouse. The sky above Richmond had turned the color…
The Silent Horizon
The *Aurora* cut through the void like a blade, its hull gleaming under the twin suns of Epsilon Eridani. Captain Mara Voss stood at the observation deck, her gloved fingers pressing against the reinforced glass. Below, the planet Dain-7 loomed—a…
The Last Light of Virelia
The village of Elmhollow burned as Kaela sprinted through the smoke, her boots crunching over shattered glass and charred timber. The air reeked of ash and sulfur, a stench that clung to her skin like a second layer. Behind her,…
The Unforgiving Horizon
Clara tightened the straps of her leather satchel as the dust of Red Rock Town clung to her boots. The sun hung low over the cracked earth, casting jagged shadows across the town’s wooden buildings. She had traveled three days…
The Luminous Veil
Dr. Elara Voss adjusted her visor as the shuttle descended through the planet’s thick, amber-hued atmosphere. The air shimmered with static, and the sky pulsed like a living thing, shifting between deep violet and a sickly green. Her boots crunched…
The Dust of Forgotten Trails
Clara Voss stepped off the creaking wagon train at midday, the sun already burning through the thin fabric of her dress. The air smelled of dust and sagebrush, the same scent that had clung to her mother’s apron when she’d…
The Last Light of Valenar
The sun hung low over Valenar, a bruise of molten gold bleeding into the horizon. Kael’s hammer rang against the anvil, each strike sending sparks into the dusk. The forge’s heat clung to his skin, thick as smoke, but he…
The Veil of Zeta
The air tasted metallic as Lieutenant Mara Voss stepped onto the crimson soil of Zeta-7, her boots sinking into the dust that shimmered under twin suns. The horizon stretched in jagged waves, a sea of obsidian rock fractured by veins…
The Hollow Bones
The air smelled of rust and pine when Mira found the first bone. She knelt in the dirt, her fingers brushing the jagged edge of a femur, and wondered if it had been there since the mine closed in 1947.…
The Veil of Solace
The air reeked of ozone and rust, a metallic tang that clung to the back of Lena’s throat. She pressed her palm against the cold steel of the shuttle’s hull, feeling the faint hum of failing systems beneath her fingers.…
The Hollow Tide
The salt air bit through Clara’s jacket as she stepped off the creaking dock, her boots crunching over gravel. The harbor lay still, its surface a sheet of oil, reflecting the bruised sky. She hadn’t been back in six years—not…
The Ember of Avaris
The sun dipped below the jagged peaks of the Obsidian Range, casting the city of Avaris into a twilight that never ended. Kaela wiped soot from her hands, the acrid tang of molten iron sharp in her nostrils. The forge’s…
Dust and Ember
Clara Hartman stepped off the stagecoach in Redding, California, her boots crunching on gravel as the sun beat down like a hammer. The air reeked of dust and coal smoke, a sharp contrast to the pine-scented breeze she’d known in…