The Rift (15 page)

The king stepped into the bright night of the
Shadowlands. Remarkable. So much light. Yet so little in the
ethereal realm. So utterly stark and bare of magic, the very
opposite of Ruach. And above, those sky jewels! Researchers had
noted them before, but no one could have sensed just how beautiful
they would be.

He felt it, off in the distance, the undeniable
signature of a soul armor, like a hook tugging in the back of his
mind. No, multiple. Four or five. Strange, the report had only
mentioned three men coming through. It was hard to tell… it had to
be only three armors. Where had the others come from?

“
Breathtaking,” his wife said.
Radiant, she stepped out of the portal beside him.

Her apprentice stepped through then shifted
them to invisible. The rest of the men came through carrying the
supplies, and the portal closed. In this field, surrounded by a
short fence, the king simply looked up at the sky jewels. There had
to be a Shadowlander word for them. Perhaps James or the soldiers
had learned it. They were the first Ruachians to truly hear words
in that language.

His queen looked in the direction of the
armors. “Should we intervene? It’s not that far.”

“
Love, this place is beautiful,” he
said. “Of all that I expected from the Shadowlands, I didn’t
foresee such beauty.”

“
You approve?”

“
Look up.”

She gasped.

“
I could get used to it
here.”

Thanks so much for reading the first book of
The Rift
series! The adventures of Vero, Pieter, Neil, and
Gloria are just getting started.

Do you want the next book cheap or for free?
Head to
jtstoll.com
and sign up for my email newsletter for
news about discounts, deals, and future books.

And I’d love to hear from you. Please email me
at
[email protected]
and let me know what you thought of
the book.

J.T. Stoll wrote his first fantasy story when
he was five. The prose was… brilliant. The accompanying stick
figure illustrations… breathtaking. The lack of complex vocabulary
underlies the deeper human condition. It was terrible. His mother
refuses to destroy the only copy because it has “sentimental
value.”

He has always loved fantastical stories of all
kinds: fantasy novels, 16-bit RPGs, superhero movies, whatever. If
reading helps to escape the real world, why not go somewhere
fun?

J.T. lives in San Luis Obispo County in a
classy bacchelor pad. He enjoys rock climbing, software
development, and cooking amazing food.

Thanks to everyone who made this book possible.
Most, and more than anyone, my Heavenly Father, who makes
everything possible.

Next, my parents. Mom, all those decades of
proofreading my school papers paid off.

Pieter Neethling of smartrockclimbing.com,
you’re a great roommate and an incredible encouragement. Thanks for
lending me the awesome spelling of your first name.

Meredith Efken of fictionfixitshop.com, you
made me weep bitterly with your substantive edit. The book is
better for it.

Susan Helene Gottfried (westofmars.com), you
did a spectacular line edit.

Jason Whited, thanks for the meticulous
copyedit.

Randy Ingermanson of
advancedfictionwriting.com, thanks for your encouraging words at
the Mount Hermon Conference.

My alpha readers who provided feedback: Keegan,
Karin, Donna, and J.K. Tizzie.

Kelsey, the cover photo turned out
amazing.

Lokmenshi, thanks for designing it into an
amazing cover.

To my critique group: Liz, Chai, and Katie.
Write more stuff. Get published.

To Jesús for the Spanish translations. If they
actually make sense, it’s definitely not because I speak
Spanish.

Thanks to the girls at Starbucks in Grover Beach for the many
tall iced teas needed to complete this work.