Your story is my story.
Fate and friendship brought Horace, Rumi, Keza, and Aliyah together in Rumi’s sentient self-propelling wagon. Their travels across a world haunted by Fragments, dangerous shards that can possess travellers, has brought many answers about Aliyah’s past, her strange abilities, and the Fragments themselves.
Only one obstacle remains between them and the forest of Aliyah’s dreams: a cursed marsh filled with ever-shifting terrain and thick Fragment storms. When Keza spots the sacred flowers of her people, however, she drags Horace deep into the marsh, to a crumbled monastery. Nothing is left of its previous inhabitants but the angry Fragmented remains of an Inae Earth Master.
The master is desperate to pass on their knowledge, a technique far different from Keza’s water dance, but in order to do so, they require a body to possess and a worthy heir. Horace provides a perfect host, but Keza—abrasive, uncouth, and exiled from her own clan—is far from the ideal student. Sparks fly between mentor and pupil, and Keza will need to rein in her natural snark if she wants to free her friend and inherit her people’s lost traditions.
Representation of note
Horace (e/em): aromantic, asexual, non-binary, ADHD
Aliyah (they/them): aromantic, asexual, non-binary
Rumi (he/him)
: aromantic, asexual
Keza (she/her): cis allo polyamorous lesbian
This series experiments with societal structures that don’t center sexual-romantic pairs or binary genders, which impacts significantly how characters relate to their own queerness.
content notes
Forced possession, discussions of exile
Tropes
Training Montage, Elemental Magic,
Telling Ghost Stories in a Storm
OTHER INFORMATION
Genre/Age Category: Adult, Epic Fantasy, Queer Fiction
Publisher: The Kraken Collective
Publication Date: February 9, 2026
Cover Artist: Eva I.
ISBN-13 (paperback): 978-1-0692516-7-1
FAQ
Can I start with this novella?
Only at your own risk. Every novella has a “Previously On” at the start to serve as a refresher, as well as character art and tiny information about their personalities, but those obviously can’t replace having been through the adventure. This one is more detached from the main storyline than most, however, so if you dig the concept … go for it!