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“Go.” Her father shoved her toward the window. “Don’t look back.” Nahlia turned around and climbed onto the stone ledge. It was a tight fit, and it made her thankful for her slender frame. The morning wind blew strands of hair across her face, and the sun was nearly blinding. A maple branch hung below her, maybe nine feet away. Could she even jump that far? The Templars reached the top of the staircase, and desperation pushed through her terror. Without a second thought, Nahlia kicked off. Her stomach lurched as she flew over the emptiness below. Yellow leaves smacked against her face. Her chest collided with the thick branch, and she clung to it like a desperate cat. She hung there for several heartbeats, gasping for breath, grimacing as the bark scraped her fingers. “There!” a voice shouted from below. “In the tree!” When Nahlia finally looked down, she spotted a dozen Templars at the base of the structure, rifles raised to fire. “Oh, Aegon . . .” She swung her legs and pulled herself over the branch. From there, she scrambled toward the trunk. Her pace quickened as she wove through the branches, trying to make herself small behind their leaves. The Arda was near. If she could only get across . . . “Open fire!” the voice bellowed again. A volley of bullets hurtled up around her, shredding through leaves and branches. Nahlia kept her head down, jumping and climbing from tree to tree. Splinters of wood flew up all around her, and dozens of birds took flight. The branches shook and bent beneath her weight. One wrong move could send her plummeting to her death. At one point, her cloak caught in a tangle of leaves, and she unclasped the hook around her neck, leaving it behind. The next branch was slick from last night’s rainfall. Her boot slipped backward, and she fell straight on her stomach before scrambling forward again. After several long seconds, Nahlia reached a single branch that stretched over the river. It was too narrow to crawl on, so she wrapped herself along the bottom. The gunners cursed below as they followed, no doubt struggling to see her through the trees. Just a little farther. She forced herself to keep her eyes forward, focusing on the branch and not the roaring river. More explosions followed. It sounded as if the universe itself were breaking in half. One bullet whooshed past her neck, lodging into the tree branch. The next one grazed her forearm, splitting her leather jerkin. Nahlia gritted her teeth to keep from crying out. She tried to move her arm, but it was filled with too much hurt to obey. Blood seeped out, snaking down her skin like a red viper. “Take her down!” the officer ordered. More explosions. This time, she felt a quick, dull pain in her chest as if she’d been punched. She looked down to see another hole in her jerkin, just below her heart. More blood pooled out of her, and the pain struck in sudden waves, sharp and hot as an iron branding. Nahlia screwed her eyes shut as her grip loosened on the branch. Even the river below seemed to lash out at her, its rapids slapping hard against the rocks. In that moment, a part of her wanted to give in to its demands. “No.” That drop could kill her even quicker than a gunshot. “You can do this. You can . . .” She reached out to grab the next branch, but her eyes clouded with tears. The world became hazy and narrow as the darkness consumed her. She tried to fight it, but its pull was too insistent. Her fingers loosened their grip, and she fell through several more branches. The Arda crashed up around her, hard and cold. ~~~ What readers are saying: From the worldbuilding, unique races and magic system, to the complex, flawed but believable characters, this story has kept me on the edge of my seat, chapter after chapter." "Brilliant characters, amazing story line. So many twists and turns." "Aeonica reads like a Brandon Sanderson novel." "One of my all-time favorite epic fantasy trilogies." Immerse yourself in a new fantasy world with the Aeonica trilogy. It all starts with Book 1, The Lost Redeemer. Read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited. Also available in ebook, paperback, and audiobook.