Sunborn Rising (31 page)

35. Red Tide

Over here!” Barra yelled to her mother across a pathwood teeming with light and fresh growth.

Brace was still recovering, but she was hobbling around better each day. She’d already started weaving a new Thread around her lame tail. The new Thread was unique to the Forest; it began with Vallor’s Thread. Brace had gathered the remains with reverence and sworn that she would carry Vallor’s story as her own.

She fingered the new Thread while she admired the light of the Loft and the many changes it brought. There was even talk of making Brace an Elder, but for today, she was an explorer. She was on a journey through the Middens with her daughter, the way Gammel would have wanted. Her sense of balance was improving, but she still needed practice and couldn’t imagine a better way to get it.

“There!” Barra said dramatically. She was pointing into an ancient, warped den that had newly opened up as the turgor of the upper boughs increased. “I’ve never seen that one before!” And then she bounded off.

Brace sighed as she faltered after Barra. “She’s always been your daughter, Gammel.” Her head turned up as she invoked his name, and she saw a spectracinthe flower sparkling down at her. Its lavender petals drew together, creating a chamber that filled with water and divided its own light into discrete bands of color. Gammel had given her the same flower the day they met. She remembered how he’d explained what the flower would look like if the Great Trees were healthy. He was right. It was beautiful.

“Mom!” Barra poked her head out from the old den. “Are you coming?” She gave her mom a playful, petulant look.

“Yes, yes,” Brace said, shaking her head. She rolled her eyes and then tried to jump forward. Instead, she stumbled awkwardly. Catching herself, she swiped the spectracinthe and it burst open. Sugary water splashed all over her fur. She felt a little embarrassed as she noticed her daughter staring at her. “I’m fine. I’m fine. I’ll be right there.” Brace gathered herself up and moved with greater care toward Barra who was pretending not to worry.

As Brace shambled toward Barra, she held close to support branches, and as the boughs shook, one of the disturbed spectracinthe petals broke free from the flower. It floated gracefully on the air like it was floating down a river. It came to rest briefly now and again on various flowers and branches. Somehow, it always found the open spaces, slid through them quietly and continued to fall. Down through boughs, to the very bottom of the Middens. And then, fearlessly, it fell into the emptiness between the canopy and the Root. And it floated for a very long time. Long after Brace and Barra returned to their Nest and prepared for the Buckle and slumber, the petal was still falling.

Finally, deep into the night, into one of the few remaining dark corners of the Root, the vivid lavender petal came to rest on a slimy bed of rotting wood. The creature that lived there didn’t notice the lively petal at all. He crushed it between his sooty toes and ground it carelessly into the grime. He moved to sit beside a radiant pool, a hole in the Root that was torn and jagged as though it had been forced open. Shredded branches were strewn as if a dervish of claws had cut through the branches.

The place was not so much a dark corner, or a shadowy den, as much as a hollow bored into the Great Umberwood by many rings of rotting.

The lithe creature held a shaking fist over the pool. Slowly, he opened muck-sodden fingers. In his palm rested a dozen jelly-covered seeds. Each was red with a smoky center curling within it. He pinched a single seed between two pincer-like claws and delicately submerged the seed in the water. Finally releasing the seed, he watched it float. It lay there suspended for a moment. But then it turned. It spun around and trembled. After a few desperate shakes the seed split into two.

A hollow, low rumble began. It rose in a steady crescendo until it became a self-satisfied, gloating laughter. As his mirth died to an arrogant chuckle, he cast the remaining seeds into the ocean.

Argus watched. The water turned red.

About the Author

Aaron Safronoff was born and raised in Michigan where he wrote his first novella,
Evening Breezes
. In his early twenties, he moved to California to attend culinary school. He fell in love with the Bay Area and has never considered leaving, although he did eventually leave the school.

During his ten years in the games industry, he worked at various levels and for several disciplines including quality assurance, production, and design. All the while he was writing a novel, short stories, plays, and poetry. His career in design introduced him to amazingly intelligent, fun, and creative people, many of whom he considers family today.

Safronoff self-published,
Spire
, in 2011, and won the Science Fiction Discovery Award for the same in the summer of 2012. By the end of that year he decided to drop everything and free fall into fiction. In the following three months he completed work on the sequel to
Spire
,
Fallen Spire
, edited
Evening Breezes
, and published both.

Today, Safronoff is co-founder and Chief Storyteller of Neoglyphic Entertainment and working on his fifth novel, the second book of the
Sunborn Rising
series. In his spare time, Safronoff enjoys reading a variety of authors, Philip K. Dick, Cormac McCarthy, and Joe Abercrombie among them. He enjoys living near the ocean, playing and watching hockey, and video games. He has a deep love of music and comedy.

Sunborn Rising:

This book,
Beneath the Fall
, is just one part of the Sunborn Rising world.
Immersive experiences across story, illustration, music, games, virtual reality and more await your discovery.

Continue the adventure at:

www.sunbornrising.com

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Acknowledgments

Neoglyphic Entertainment would like to thank all of the wonderful artists and musicians who supported us throughout the development of this story and our company. Your indefatigable spirit and creativity shaped the world of Cerulean and the heart of this studio. We would not be who we are today, where we are today, if not for you.

We want to thank all of our families. Your belief in us fuels our efforts day and night, as we strive for the very best to make you proud. You are our first audience and we love you.

We’d like to thank all of our Sneak Peekers who contributed copious amounts of time and insightful criticism when we needed it most. You managed to see the potential even when the work was at its roughest, and inspired us to never stop in our pursuit of excellence.

We’d like to thank our advisers who represent so many facets of entertainment, art, and business. Your wisdom and expertise are our guiding lights as we explore new methods of development and creativity. Thank you for joining us on this adventure and imparting the confidence of your years of experience.

A huge thank you to our investors without whom we’d be a commune of starving artists instead of an entertainment company revolutionizing the way great stories are created and experienced. You are the power behind the vision. Thank you.

And a thank you to all of our
Sunborn Rising Fans!

Neoglyphic Entertainment believes story is the heart of the human experience. Story inspires creativity, shapes minds, and catalyzes social change. Story connects us to one another, celebrating our greatest triumphs and exposing our deepest fears, establishing a common ground to learn, to understand, to be.

Stories are shared through written word, visual art, film, music, video games and more. Neoglyphic develops technology to cultivate story across all these art forms, and reduces the traditional risk and cost associated with entertainment production. We offer a storytelling platform to connect with fans, derive meaningful insights, and deliver immersive experiences.

Whether you’re an author writing your first novel, or a studio creating a feature film, Neoglyphic will be your trusted partner to untether your imagination.

www.neoglyphic.com