Graham sat at the table with his head in his hands. Dora looked on, red-eyed from crying for the past two days as Miki gently patted her back. Oren puffed lightly on a cigar. “It’ll be okay, honey,” Dora said to Graham. “We’re going to find her. She’s strong and so smart. She’ll be just…

“So, it’s just after moonrise, and I’m dictating to that fool of a king, once again, what he’s to say in his address to the Royal Council. I was just about to slip away to release those vermin peasants from their filthy hole in the ground, when in walks Zahlamaer!” Mitch started, nearly knocking over…

This journal is the property of Ian Holtfield, agent of the Collective, the greatest fighting force for good of all time. At present, I am somewhere around 14 years old. I write these pages from the Sun King’s Court (Chamber 6. Moon Cycle 5. Set 714. Flarefield 13C), where I’ve spent 18 moon cycles. I…

A tired looking girl was sweeping the ashes from the grate of a large fireplace when Ian and Mitch walked through the door. A gust of icy wind followed them into the room, blowing out the flames of the candles scattered along the bar top. An assortment of lopsided tables, wooden stools, and plushy chairs…

It was hard for Mitch to believe she had been terrified, even for one second, of the blaze the Tinker had pushed her into. It hadn’t been all that hot—just very warm—and now that it was gone, all Mitch wanted was for it to return. She shivered uncontrollably in the wintery night. As painful as…

Timekeeper Pollistone looked up from his books and sighed. It had been a long time since he’d heard the chronometer—he wasn’t sure how long, of course—but he felt the same annoyance at his studies being interrupted every time. With great effort, he rolled his drooping eyes up over his bulging nose, and studied the ticking…

Mitch blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. Flash! An electric bolt cut through the black space. Mitch gasped, startled by the sudden burst of light, and felt herself standing on firm ground. As the darkness dissolved, she held her breath waiting, hair standing on end and every nerve in her body pulsing with electricity. Small white…