I walk through the ruins of Kaso. This side of the kingdom has been long abandoned decades ago — probably around my grandfather was born. That’s when the monarchy decided to become more corrupt than it ever was.

Anastasia stumbles over so I quickly go over to her and steady her. "You okay?" I ask.

She nods. "Yeah. Thank you." Anastasia looks around. She is the princess of Katharos and now Numi...

_ Why? _I paused in the doorway of the store I had been in before it all happened. _Why did I trust her? I should have just kept it the way it was. It wouldn’t have ended like this if she hated me like before. If only —_

__

Then I cried. I haven’t cried in years, I thought I’d forgotten how to. But I found myself leaning against the wall with tears rolling down my face.

“Hello?” I barely heared t...

The visions of my own past sprang up in front of my eyes as I riffled through the scattered debris of the old broken storefront. The windows shattered and the ancient structure destroyed, I saw evidence of the Baaman lack of regard for anything which had survived from the old world. My home had been ransacked and burned before we moved in and drove the invaders back, reclaiming what remained of t...

Never in a million years did I think that simply loving another person could result in the total destruction of the only home I’d ever known. Falling in love with the wrong person had felt so easy, so… right. But as I made my way down Main Street, weaving between the piles of rubble that once composed my city, my childhood home, my place of birth, I knew in my heart that it had always been wrong. ...

It’s been fifteen years. Fifteen years, four months and twelve days to be exact. And yet, this place still smells exactly the same. Salt from the sea, ash from the fire, and a metallic tang hangs in the air. The whole journey here, I tried to convince myself that returning would bring me closure. That it would allow me to move on from that fateful day. Now, as I stand in the rubble that was once t...

It was silent as she wandered through the streets of Cileria. Too silent for her liking, actually. The battle was over, no one fought anymore and even though she and her allies won and got control of the legendary ruby crown she couldn’t celebrate with the others within the ruins of the tavern. Not here, not in this place where she spent the happiest years of her life.

As she turns left the women...

Aleila shoved the rubble aside. The shattered blue doors made her heart sink. It was gone. All of it. The hurricane had destroyed nearly everything, and it was her fault.

It was Aleila’s job to keep the ocean at bay, and she had failed.

Percy was still following her around like a puppy who was lost. She was mad at him, and she hated that. It wasn’t his fault, she was the one who’d accepted.

The Nè...

The air was thick with the smell of ash, a bitter tang that clung to the back of the throat and left a taste like regret. The city, or what remained of it, lay stretched before Jackal like a corpse beneath a gray shroud of smoke. Buildings leaned against one another, their steel ribs exposed, their windows gaping like blind eyes. Somewhere in the distance, a fire still crackled, a stubborn ember r...

I thought I had chosen correctly. I read the right things, talked to many different people with many different views and I considered every aspect of both sides. In the end, I felt 100% comfortable with my choice. I realize now that my decision has helped facilitate this complete and total destruction of my beloved country. In all my research I never investigated the possibility that my choice wou...

I hate it here. I should never have come home. This place is the worst and it brings out the worst in me. Seeing it in this condition, after having been away so long, it just makes me feel worse.

Garbage lines the streets. The homeless are fighting each other and shouting; I keep my distance as I make my way. I half recognize the chatter of voices, and the guy I see turn a corner looks like someo...