Horizon Storms
Chapter One
CELLI
Though blackened by flames, the surviving worldtrees on Theroc
remained defiant in the aftermath of the nightmare that had befallen
them. Skeletal branches twisted upward, frozen in agony, as if
warding off an unexpected blow from the skies. Damaged bark had
sloughed away like leprous scabs. Many of the trees had been
mortally wounded. The forest itself was a morass of dead branches
and half-fallen trees.
Celli, the youngest child of Mother Alexa and Father Idriss, could
not look at the painful ruins without blinking back tears that came
too readily to her large brown eyes. At eighteen, she was skinny,
tomboyish, with a dusting of light freckles on her mocha skin. She
had a shag of short, corkscrewy auburn hair that she cut only when
it got in her way. Soot and ash scuffed her cropped, fitted top that
left her midriff bare and her short flutter skirt that added a
splash of color. Normally she had a bright smile beneath her
upturned nose, but of late there had been few occasions to smile.
After the hydrogues had been driven back, it had taken all the
remaining energy of the ... read full excerpt from: Horizon Storms: The Saga of Seven Suns Book ebook
