Artwork + July Short Story [Ashlyn's Cotillion]

Hey peeps!

The above image is Volke's fight with the white hart in the Endless Mire! This will be inside the special Kickstarter edition of the books. More art like this will be placed throughout, so I hope you're super excited!

Here is July's short story. Ashlyn's cotillion as told from her perspective.

Shami

Ashlyn’s Cotillion

I stood on a pier, dressed for a party meant for me in name only. Everything from the venue to the decorations had been planned by the Kross family. Freestorm—the beautiful island hosting my cotillion—was wonderful. No one could deny.

But it wasn’t my choice.

I glanced down at my dress. It shimmered in the light of the setting sun, the silvery scales of the sleek gown fitting my body perfectly. Diamond-shaped holes were cut into the dress down my sides, exposing skin.

Another decision that hadn’t been mine.

My fiancée, Valo Fitzroy, had picked out my dress. Fortunately, I had been allowed to make one decision. I had picked out the sash I wore as a belt around my waist. It was blue, like the typhoon dragons, and I loved it.

I ran my slender fingers over the fabric, enjoying the warm ocean breeze.

Why was I complaining? My cotillion was gigantic and opulent beyond compare. I’d be the envy of every arcanist at Astra Academy…

But it felt hollow, like I was an actor in a play, and my life was merely a script written by someone else. I did what they said, wore what they wanted, and never complained—because if I complained, then I was the “trouble child.”

I watched as my peers chased their dreams, made mistakes, and learned from them. They forged their own paths, one step at a time, discovering who they truly are. But here I was, stuck in a bubble of expectations.

The water stirred around the pier, and Ecrib poked his nose up from the surface.

“My arcanist?” Ecrib whispered.

“I’m fine,” I muttered.

“Your father has already officially begun the ceremony.”

I furrowed my brow. “How do you know?”

“My father, Enki, told me.”

Enki.

That was the name of my father’s typhoon dragon—the beast resting in the bay. He was a gigantic dragon, with scales to be marveled at, but he was just as harsh as my father. Enki never helped me when I was I child. If I fell, or hurt myself swimming, the mighty beast simply watched from afar, judging me.

Someone stepped onto the far end of the pier. I glanced up, and held my breath.

Gray Lexly.

If I was a bird trapped in a gilded cage, he was the raven that no one seemed to be able to catch. Gray just did whatever he wanted, no ties to a noble family, no real alliances outside of his twin brother, Sorin.

I wished I had his kind of freedom. I glanced away and stared at the water.

When he walked across the pier, I just waited. Ecrib was in a better mood tonight, because he didn’t hiss or growl.

Gray wore tailored clothing and a nice vest. He was handsome in a rugged and wild way. His mimic, the little orange kitten, detracted from his tough demeanor, but it added a bit of whimsy that was uniquely his. He carried his eldrin everywhere like it was something precious.

“Ashlyn?” Gray asked. “Do you mind if I join you?”

I turned to face him with a smile. “Gray. I’m surprised you came.”

“And miss you in this dress? Never.”

He finished walking to my side, his mimic cradled in his arms, and while I appreciated his compliments, I also hated him for them. If I made comments like that, my whole family would disown me. I couldn’t say whatever I wanted.

“I told you, I’m betrothed.” I turned to watch Ecrib in the water. “You shouldn’t say things like that.”

“Oh?” Gray lifted an eyebrow. “Maybe I should say things like your fiancé and talk about how—” He cleared his throat and in a mocking tone said, “—young ladies between the ages of sixteen and twenty-three smell of sugar and cream, nom nom.”

I laughed. So did Twain. But I had to stop.

“He didn’t say that,” I muttered. “Jealousy doesn’t suit you, Gray.”

I already didn’t like Valo—I didn’t need weird lies about his inappropriate behavior to dislike him more.

“I think your father is irritated you haven’t shown yourself for the cotillion.” Gray motioned to the amphitheater. “Don’t you want to speak with everyone?”

Ecrib and I kept eye contact. He had already told me about my father. He would be upset—and so would Enki.

Gray set Twain down and then rotated his shoulders.

Soft music replaced the upbeat singing that had dominated the celebration. It was sickeningly romantic, and I suspected my father wanted me to arrive and dance with Valo. I shuddered at the thought.

Gray held out his hand. “Well, if you don’t want to go to the cotillion, maybe we can avoid all our responsibilities together and just dance here?”

He always had a way of making me laugh.

I wished… I was more like him.

“If anyone saw us,” I whispered, “I would never live it down. There’d be whispers of my infidelity. I’d be a walking embarrassment.”

“They’d have to catch us first.”

His brazen disregard for the opinions of others made me smile. Obviously, he hadn’t grown up in a noble house. Gray had no one to disappoint. But… would he care? He seemed like the type of person who would just do whatever he wanted anyway.

At least, when no one was looking.

Gray didn’t lower his hand.

I stepped forward and placed my palm onto his. Gray pulled me close, and I rested some of my weight against his body. He was lean, not muscled, like his brother, but still fit. Which I liked.

Gray led the dance.

Well, if you could call it that. He swayed back and forth, and I rested my cheek on his shoulder. The music helped set the mood, and while it was clear to me that Gray had never been formally trained in dancing, I still appreciated his efforts.

Gray attempted to twirl us. I helped him by performing all the necessary steps. He met my gaze, and I was caught off-guard by the light behind his gray-blue irises.

“Gray? Gray.” Twain scrabbled across the pier and stood by Gray’s feet. “Something is wrong.”

“No, it’s not,” Gray muttered.

That almost had me laughing a third time.

“I’m so sorry, but it really is.”

But the water… I felt the water around us tremble in anticipation. I released Gray and turned, my heart rate accelerating with each tension moment.

An inky cloud stained the tranquil Freestorm Bay. It was impossible to see the sandy bottom or even the glorious fish, but when small rippled cascaded over the surface, I knew something was terribly wrong.

Ecrib growled as he stepped out of the water and pulled himself onto the pier. His scales flared as he said, “There’s a creature in the bay. Something as big as my father.”

No.

That was impossible.

A creature the size of Enki wouldn’t be able to swim into the bay without everyone noticing. How did something that size get here?

“What is it?” I whispered.

And then, the music died.

Father… He was in the amphitheater.

Would he be okay?

Two gigantic tentacles lifted out of the bay. They were as black as midnight, tipped with blue, and practically reflected the evening sky. They were also thick enough to crush a house. Both tentacles sailed through the air, heading toward the amphitheater. Everyone screamed, but my focus was set on the tentacles.

What was this beast?

The tentacles smashed onto the amphitheater, exploding their way through the walls, shattering wood, crushing a few palm trees, and devastating everything they touched.

“Ecrib!” I shouted.

My eldrin would be with me. He never got afraid.

Ecrib lifted out of the bay water enough for me to grab onto his finned neck. I didn’t care that I was wearing some expensive dress. It was the outfit Valo liked—I hoped it would be shredded by the end of this.

Ecrib dove into the water, taking me with him. He went straight for the crumbling amphitheater.

Gray would understand.

I needed to help my father and my family.

Four more tentacles rose out of the bay and smashed the side of the massive theater. Ecrib swam as fast as he could through ink-stained waters. Normally, small krakens filled bay waters with ink in order to confuse their prey. But this thing…

It wasn’t a normal kraken.

Barnacles and sharp bits of coral clung to the sides of the massive tentacles, which no normal kraken had. The small lights of anglerfish poked out of open pores on the strange kraken’s body, like its body was a portal to another world—one filled with destruction.

I had heard of krakens like this…

They were called Midnight Depths Krakens. They were ancient, and long thought extinct. My grandfather had told me tales about how they once guarded the abyssal hells, and were actually locked away along with the Death Lords.

If that was true…

How did this monster get here?

Mortals, arcanists, and mystical creatures poured out of the half-ruined amphitheater. The screaming was distracting, but out on the water of the bay, it sounded distant.

“Father,” Ecrib breathed, his eyes going wide.

Enki lifted his massive body from the bay. The black water ran from his body in waterfalls, crashing back to the bay and creating a roar of water. Enki was the perfect typhoon dragon. His fins were long, his spine covered in thorn-like spines, and his claws massive. My father, Septimus, had always treated Enki with the greatest care, and it shows.

After a defiant roar, Enki opened his mouth, his fangs flashing in the night, and evoked a blast of pure lightning.

The attack struck the midnight depths kraken, burning into its hideous flesh.

“Ecrib,” I said as he swam closer to the monster. “We have to help. Move closer so I can attack.”

“We’re nothing compared to my father.” Ecrib growled. “We should help people escape.”

The kraken bashed the theater, sending a chunk into the water and creating a wave.

“You’re right,” I said.

“Ashlyn!” my father roared.

I knew his voice anywhere.

My father stood on the main stage of the theater, holding onto one of the support pillars. His ceremonial outfit was splashed with black ink, but he on to the structure with a white-knuckle grip.

“Fight this monster,” my father shouted. “No one takes the water from a typhoon dragon arcanist!”

Although I thought Ecrib’s plan to save people was a better one, I did as my father instructed. I held out a hand and evoked a blast of lightning with everything I had. My attack hit the black skin of the midnight depths kraken and did very little.

From what I remembered, these krakens were slightly resistant to enemy magic.

“That’s it!” my father shouted. “Keep attacking!” And then he, too, filled the bay with a blast of his magic, the lightning crackling and arching through the air.

Emboldened by his encouragement, I motioned for Ecrib to take me closer.

The kraken reached up with tentacles and grabbed Enki around his long neck. Enki thrashed, splashing inky water everywhere. I had to shield my eyes from the mists, but once we were close enough, I shot the tentacles with my evocation.

I didn’t need to worry about hurting Enki. Typhoon dragons were immune to the harsh effects of lightning.

Enki and the dastardly kraken grappled each other right at the edge of the ruined amphitheater. The kraken was clearly trying to strangle Enki, but I wouldn’t allow that to happen.

“Hurry, Ecrib!” I yelled.

My father, from the stage in the theater, continued to evoke his lightning, slamming the kraken over and over.

Once Ecrib swam close enough, he dug his claws into the kraken’s tentacles and then bit down as hard as he could. Blackish blood squirted out into the water, and it stank of whale blubber and rotting seaweed.

Another tentacle lifted from the bay and smashed another portion of the amphitheater’s wall. A rain of broken wood and bamboo shot over the beach, and across the fleeing arcanists.

What was I doing? Ecrib and I were barely helping.

I…

Should be helping people escape.

“Ashlyn!” my father roared. “Focus!”

I attacked again, my evocation barely burning the kraken’s body.

Several support beams holding the amphitheater snapped. The whole structure tilted forward and sank down, crashing into the bay. The wave of water dislodged Ecrib, and we both tumbled outward, away from the destruction.

Enki hissed as he dug his claws into the kraken. More black blood spilled out into the water, mixing with the oil-like ink. Everything was a dark void of starless night sky.

Then the main body of the kraken lifted out of the bay. Its mouth… It was a circle of teeth similar to a lamprey. That was how octopuses attacked, after all. They wrapped their tentacles around their pray, and then pulled them close enough to bite. Krakens were exactly the same.

The midnight depths kraken had eyes that resembled jellyfish—otherworldly and shimmering—and practically the size of barrels. The kraken screeched and evoked its own kind of magic.

Fear. The kraken was evoking fear.

I closed my eyes, my mind filled with terrible thoughts. Ecrib stopped moving, and we both plunged beneath the water. Thankfully, typhoon dragons and their arcanists couldn’t drown, but now we were just rolling around the waves, not being of help to anyone.

I was at the mercy of the current.

It was so… frustrating.

Why did I always feel so helpless? Even the ocean made me feel small and unable to escape. The kraken’s magic gripped my mind and muscles, preventing me from swimming.

The midnight depths kraken, still shrieking, struck Enki with a powerful blow. Enki was also caught by the fear evocation and struggled to move.

I watched the fight from under the water, barely able to make out details. The ink made everything murky, even though my typhoon dragon magic allowed me perfect sight normally when I was underwater.

Shadows attacked the eyes of the kraken.

The monster stopped its screeching. That was when Enki and my father unleashed a whole new round of lightning. But still, it wasn’t much. Why couldn’t my father see this was damn near futile?

As soon as the fear left my body—and left Ecrib’s—my dragon pulled me to the surface. I clung to his back and whispered gentle encouragement to him.

Ecrib never failed me.

I held up a hand. “Whatever my father wants…” And then I attacked. I gave it everything I had, and my lightning lanced forward, striking the beast as it continued to wrestle with Enki.

My eldrin swam as fast as he could, carrying me on his back. I held on, my silvery dress tearing at the bottom hem as bits of wood cut up my legs. Whenever Ecrib got a chance, he lifted his head above the water and opened his mouth to shoot his own bolt of lightning.

Then…

The water in the bay moved. It was being manipulated. At first, I thought it was the doing of my father, but he was too preoccupied with fighting the kraken. With quick glances, I searched for the source of the manipulation, but then I silently cursed at myself for not noticing it sooner. There was a duplicate of my father’s eldrin, Enki, in the bay as well.

Gray.

He had transformed his mimic into a typhoon dragon, and now he was pushing out the waters.

Why?

Half the bay slid away from the theater, receding outward, like a swell of the ocean before a major wave. People shouted from help, and it was then that I realized how many had been pulled into the bay from the fierce fighting.

Gray was saving them.

His mimic, as large as Enki, scooped up people and dropped them off at the beach. When tentacles went flying, Twain took the attacks.

Even Gray bravely rushed onto the sandy bottom of the bay to help pull people from the wreckage. He was putting himself in danger to save everyone.

I wished…

I wished I had done the same thing.

“Ashlyn!” my father shouted.

The anger in his tone told me I couldn’t lose focus. I tore my attention away from Gray and resumed my attack on the midnight depths kraken. Despite my torrent of lightning, the creature never even turned one of its many tentacles on me. Was I just not a threat? Or was it dedicated to killing Enki and my father?

Since it was a beast from the abyssal hells…

It was probably here because of Gray. There was no other explanation.

The water in the bay crashed back into the theater, and Gray’s mimic disappeared from my view. Had Gray saved as many people as he could?

Ecrib swam around the kraken. It was still struggling to choke Enki, but the massive typhoon dragon had tough scales that seemed to prevent him from losing much air. With massive claws, Enki tore off a tentacle and tossed it into the water.

The gigantic limb crashed into the bay and created a wave that enveloped Ecrib and me.

I wanted to find Gray and help, but the chaos of the fight was too intense. I didn’t know where he went.

Instead, I focused on kraken. Since it was now missing a tentacle, I pointed Ecrib at the bloody opening.

“There!” I shouted.

“Right,” Ecrib growled.

He swam straight for it. Once close, I shot my lightning into the injury.

That got the kraken’s attention. It screamed and hissed all at once, and then a tentacle came down right next Ecrib and me. We were tossed, along with the water, straight into the crumbling amphitheater. I hit the wood so hard, I lost my breath—and my eyesight—for a short period of time.

I thought I might pass out, but then shadowy tendrils held my head above the water.

A knightmare arcanist trudged through the waves and helped me to my fight. My head spun, and he held me close.

Sorin?

“Hurry to the shore,” Sorin and his knightmare said as a single being. “They’re evacuating people on the last few boats.”

“I can’t,” I managed to mutter. “I have to… stay…”

Ecrib pulled himself from the wreckage and leapt to my side. With his blue scales flared, he returned his attention to the kraken. Another tentacle had been ripped off.

Enki was winning.

“You’re about to lose consciousness.”

I didn’t remember anything else after that. My vision went completely black.

***

When I awoke, it was to the gentle glow of the full moon.

I sat up, and realized I was on the sandy beach of Freestorm, my arms covered in goosebumps. Ecrib was curled up against me. He opened his eyes as I pushed myself to my feet.

My dress was a complete disaster. It once shone with luster and grace, and now it was black, tore, and barely hanging on me in some places. My hair was tangled, and as I tried to smooth it back, my fingers got caught in my locks.

“What happened?” I croaked.

Ecrib snorted. “Enki killed the kraken. Then its body disintegrated.”

“Where is Gray?”

My eldrin tilted his dragon head to the side. “I haven’t seen him.”

“Ashlyn!”

The way my father shouted my name told me everything about his current mood. He had spoken my name with a hint of concern this time, which was better than the last few times he had uttered it.

He stormed across the beach, his ceremonial clothes in just as bad of shape as mine. He went straight for me, and didn’t stop until his hands were on my shoulders. My father gave me the once over.

“You should stay seated,” he said matter-of-factly. “You look terrible. A boat should be here for us momentarily. Then we’ll get you home and taken care of.”

“I’m fine,” I muttered.

“You’re obviously not. I should’ve known better than to call you out into the bay. I thought you could handle it, but clearly you couldn’t.”

I jerked my shoulders from his grip. “I’m an arcanist. I can handle it.” After folding my arms across my chest, I added, “Is everyone okay?”

“Valo made it out safely,” my father replied. “You needn’t worry.”

I didn’t care about Valo.

But I did glance around for him. “Where did Valo go?”

“He left on one of the rescue vessels.”

Ah. How romantic. He didn’t even stay to see if his fiancée was okay. He left as soon as he could.

“It’s best he left,” my father said as though he understood my thoughts from my very expression. “We wouldn’t want him to see you like this. First, we should clean you up.” He gestured to my torn dress, and then to his own outfit. “Both of us, actually. What a disgrace it would be for anyone to see us looking like ragamuffins.”

I rubbed my upper arm, suddenly aware that my father thought I looked shameful. What had he been expecting? Did he think I could fight a monster in inky waters without getting dirty?

My father grabbed my shoulder once again and pointed me toward a half-standing pier. “Come. We’ll discuss what to do in the meantime. My attendants told me they thought this travesty occurred because of magics from Astra Academy, and if that’s the case, perhaps we should send you elsewhere.”

“I don’t want to go elsewhere.”

“You will if you’re in danger,” my father snapped. “Now come along. I don’t want any more lip tonight.”

With a sigh, I said, “Yes, father.”