Sandra Fernandez Rhoads - Realms of Light

Acclaim for

REALMS OF LIGHT

In Realms of Light, Sandra Fernandez Rhoads uses the best of fantasy fiction to cleverly blend in Paradise Lost as a backstory. The result is a fast-paced story driven by intimate portrayals of characters who display a realistic range of human strengths and faults, rich settings that draw in readers, and a vibrant plot that leads to a conclusion that surprises yet satisfyingly ties together narrative threads from the first volume of this duology, Mortal Sight.

Angelica Duran,

President of the Milton Society of America (20202021) and Professor of English, Comparative Literature, and Religious Studies at Purdue University

An epic conclusion to The Colliding Line, Realms of Light is a beautiful, clever ending to this duology. New friends, new enemies, and new mysteries await in this bewitching tale!

Gabriella Graves,

Disney Channel actor

The dark, fantastic adventure that began in Mortal Sight yields new and surprising revelations in this thrilling sequel. Allusions to classic art, Milton's poetry, and Machiavellian philosophy give the book's lore a fresh and fascinating twist as Realms of Light twists toward an apocalyptic, pulse-racing climax. Sandra Fernandez Rhoads is a YA fantasy author to watch!

R.J. Anderson,

award-winning author of Knife, Ultraviolet and The Flight and the Flame Trilogy

Realms of Light propels The Colliding Line duology to a breathless, dazzling conclusion. What Sandra Fernandez Rhoads began in Mortal Sight is expanded, enriched, and deepened in Realms. I loved it.

Lindsay A. Franklin,

award-winning author of The Story Peddler

With nonstop intrigue, new characters who stole my heart, and, of course, the poetic quality of Rhoads' storytelling, I completely devoured this book and all of its mysteries! It is truly a thoughtful and heart-pounding conclusion to Cera's journey in finding a place in the world and ultimately learning acceptance of herself.

Krissi Dallas,

author of the Phantom Island series

Realms of Light

Copyright 2021 by Sandra Fernandez Rhoads

Published by Enclave Publishing, an imprint of Third Day Books, LLC

Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

www.enclavepublishing.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, digitally stored, or transmitted in any form without written permission from Third Day Books, LLC.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, and/or events is purely coincidental.

ISBN: 978-1-62184-164-7 (printed hardback)

ISBN: 978-1-62184-166-1 (printed softcover)

ISBN: 978-1-62184-165-4 (ebook)

Cover design by Kirk DouPonce, www.DogEaredDesign.com

Typesetting by Jamie Foley, www.JamieFoley.com

For my mother & my late father

Who taught me to persevere

&

For Donna

Who guided me through the storms

I bounce my foot as Devon drives us deeper into the forest at a crawling pace. Maddox sits beside me, tapping a restless beat on his knee as the rumbling engine fills the growing silence. Autumn leaves blanket our path, and the bleak horizon blocks out the rising sun, but I know its there, hiding behind the clouds, waiting to break through.

Is the wound bothering you? Harper flattens the edge of the bandage wrapped around my burnt calf. The serum will probably wear off soon.

Its fine, really. Im far from fine. But its not the wound that troubles me. With every passing minute, I get closer to the Alliance Council Estatethe one place Mom has spent the last ten years keeping me safe from. And Im terrified.

Keep watch for any creatures. Were not in the clear yet. Devons weary eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror.

Ive been watching and listening for hours, sandwiched in the back, caught next to Harper, who keeps shooting Maddox a side-eyed stare, making him shift uncomfortably. Every now and then he glances at me, tightening his lips, holding back words his eyes are fighting to say. But words cant erase the awkwardness between us.

I look out the window. No violent wind signals beastly Cormorants overhead, and no misted Legions creep along the prickly underbrush, tracking our path. Weve set good distance. Nothings in sight.

Pop, whos been quietly resting in the front seat, grunts and adjusts his sunglasses. Dont use your eyes.

Use my senses, I know. But smells collide in this stuffy car, making it hard to detect any ash or sulfur in the air, so I close my eyes to listen and feel for anything out of the ordinary. But as far as I can tell, Everythings clear.

Maddox tips his head against the glass to look at the treetops. Yeah, but somewhere out there, Sage is commanding those things to kill innocent people.

Harper clutches the duffle bag in her lap. Like he did with me.

I check the sky again. He can be stopped. At least I hope. If not, then theres no telling how many others will die.

Our trip to Council isnt about stopping Sage. Devon makes a hard turn, sending me into Maddoxs shoulder.

A swarming flutter takes flight inside my stomach as his bold scent of rain envelops me. I snuff out the feeling and hold on to Pops headrest, clawing into the aged-velour cushion to stay upright. Its about keeping a half-breed like me out of Sages hands, I know.

Ive decided to offer up whatever I can to help Councils cause and prove Im on their side. And hopefully in return Ill get training. Maybe even fight in the war.

That is, of course, if they dont kill me at first sight.

Devon suddenly stops the car out in the middle of nowhere. The only thing visible deep inside the woods is a twenty-foot gate overgrown with thorny vines, once built, then forgotten. No fence sprawls out from either side of the aged pillars. No road marks a path. Its simply an obsolete structure abandoned in the middle of the autumn forest.

Something wrong? I ask.

Pop grips his cane and sits up. Were at the gate, Honey.

Verses from Paradise Lost race through my mind at that same moment:

Three folds were brass,

Three iron, three of adamantine rock

Impenetrable, impaled with circling fire

Yet unconsumed.

Those lines describe the gates that keep the archfiend bound in hellnot a comforting thought when Im about to meet the Alliance Council, Milton. But at second glance, his description is spot on. The gate isnt one solid color or material but a twisted mesh of metal and rock, or hundreds of swords tangled together. All thats missing is the fire along the perimeter.

Harper smacks her lips after applying pink lip gloss. I only see an ivy pillar.

Maddox sinks in the seat. Those are statues.

I lean forward for a better look out the front windshield. When I do, the flower hairpin Gladys gave me, the one I lost and Maddox found, pokes at me from inside my pocket. I adjust the pin through the fabric and take a second look.