The Wild Rose Press: Title Excerpt

Children of the Mist

Hywela Lyn

She kept climbing, losing all track of time.

She stopped to rest. She’d had little sleep and not bothered to eat before she left the camp, and hunger and exhaustion took their toll. All at once she sniffed the air. Clouds of bitter-smelling smoke drifted in a haze above her. She turned her head to one side and concentrated on climbing as swiftly as she could without losing her footing.

It was almost a shock when at last she reached the rim. She eased herself onto the icy ground, and sat for a few moments to catch her breath. Smoke hung in the air and it was obvious there had recently been a fight with power weapons.

Vidarh! Vidarh, are you here?

No answer. Nothing but silence. Abandoning caution, she adjusted her flare to full beam and swung around, stretching her arm and illuminating the ground before her. Suddenly she stood rigid. Over to her right, a large black mound, obviously the Salmaran, or what was left of her, lay inert and lifeless, face downward.

She looked all around, flashing the light on her wrist, straining her eyes for some sign of Vidarh, while calling to him in her mind. She walked away from the Salmaran woman’s body, and at last spotted Vidarh lying a considerable distance away.

His arms were flung out away from his sides, his fingers clenched around the butt of his blaster, his garments half covered in snow. She could detect no life-signs.

She ran toward him. Tears spilled down her cheeks and it seemed as if her heart would break.