Excerpt: Key Stone

Somewhere on one of the various worlds of the multi-verse a faery queen sat ensconced on her throne formed of a living tree. Like the leaves of the tree, her hair was streaked in shades of fiery autumn red, her gown embroidered with golden roses. Her shimmering gold wings rested along her back like a short cloak.

She lifted her head, opening blue eyes vivid as an autumn sky, and tilted her head as if listening to the softest sigh of the wind. She smiled. Not a cruel smile, but neither was it kind.

The faery queen opened a small compartment in the arm of her living throne and withdrew a ream of parchment, a quill pen, and a small inkstand of gold ink.

Nearby, the faery queen's sister lifted her head from the mossy pillow it had rested on. Her eyes, a paler blue than her sister's but just as vivid, watched in curiosity. Her white hair streamed past her shoulders, her gown a gauzy match to her eyes. Tiny diamonds studded her brow in the form of a sparkling circlet.

"What is it, sister?" the queen of ice asked. "What do you hear?"

The faery queen dipped her quill into the ink. "The end of the world. The end of the world has begun." The faery queen touched quill to parchment, and began to write.