yrliu author
Stories
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The Whisperer in White by Y. R. Liu When the Whisperer speaks, the universe listens. Growing up, Talia had never given much thought to the gray-robed Whisperers and their powers over reality. Their business was protecting the world; hers was hunting in the forest around her village and trying to stay out of trouble. Unfortunately for Tal, one Whisperer in particular becomes her business when she accidentally injures his companion, a talking cat-shaped creature named Morel. As punishment, she becomes the Whisperer’s prisoner, whisked away to his island home for a year and a day of servitude. There is much to do — for both the Whisperer and for Tal — as he prepares for the ritual that must be completed every hundred years to ensure the safety of the world. Tal does as she is told; her priority is to simply finish out her sentence and return home to her family. Yet there are many secrets on the island, many oddities, and they tug at Tal like an itch. As the year goes on, she learns more of the Whisperer, his duties, and the horrifying evils that he and the other Whisperers keep at bay. But secrets still remain: a room that is always locked, a stone monument in the woods, crimson flowers whose very name causes the Whisperer to storm away. Unbeknownst to Tal, something is watching her, and what she does now may alter the fate of the world. |
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Avenel was once a fabled assassin known as the Blade of Elyria. Ever tight-lipped about her past, she retired from a life of death to wander the world alone. Deena is a sheltered teenage girl unaware of her extraordinary heritage. Raised alone by her mother, she has never been far from home. Their paths cross in Deena’s secluded village, when tragedy obliterates Deena’s home and leaves her orphaned. The two begin a journey across the continent, bound together by Avenel’s promise to keep Deena safe. They encounter allies, both new and old: a biological father, a bastard prince and his friends, estranged family, and a physician who claims to be a member of a long-dead race. Each has regrets and painful memories of their own, memories that Deena soon discovers she can relive through dreams. When a prophesied sign of the end of the world appears, their journey becomes about more than just the fate of a single girl, and the secrets between them may be enough to save the world — or end it. |