Two worlds converge in this YA science fiction series.
Honour Frie has escaped Forgotten London, but he’s not safe yet. His sister is mute with grief, what remains of his family is suffering, and when The Guardians lose faith in their purpose, Honour is tasked with restoring it. But inciting the rebellion isn’t something that comes easily to Honour, and with every burden weighing on him, cracks appear in his sanity.
Branwell Ravel will do anything to reunite with his missing sister, but with no word of her for months he’s lost hope of saving her. Bennet Ravel doesn’t want or need to be saved. She has a purpose. She will avenge her father—she will kill the President of States—no matter the cost.
Miya and Yosiah have fought everything together—Officials, Strains, starvation, and even their own feelings for each other—but will they stay together when the secrets between them grow too vast to stay hidden?
With a dangerous journey to Bharat and a plot to overthrow States’s Ordering Body, the second installment of the Lux Guardians series will wrench everyone to their breaking points.
Honour Frie has escaped Forgotten London, but he’s not safe yet. His sister is mute with grief, what remains of his family is suffering, and when The Guardians lose faith in their purpose, Honour is tasked with restoring it. But inciting the rebellion isn’t something that comes easily to Honour, and with every burden weighing on him, cracks appear in his sanity.
Branwell Ravel will do anything to reunite with his missing sister, but with no word of her for months he’s lost hope of saving her. Bennet Ravel doesn’t want or need to be saved. She has a purpose. She will avenge her father—she will kill the President of States—no matter the cost.
Miya and Yosiah have fought everything together—Officials, Strains, starvation, and even their own feelings for each other—but will they stay together when the secrets between them grow too vast to stay hidden?
With a dangerous journey to Bharat and a plot to overthrow States’s Ordering Body, the second installment of the Lux Guardians series will wrench everyone to their breaking points.
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BENNET
I expected the end to come with fire, not rain, but the heavens don’t seem to care as they pour their sorrows onto me.
I always thought if the end came for me it would come for Branwell at the same time, but we are separated and death is nearing with each passing minute. I hoped he’d find me despite my own failed attempts to seek him out. I still hope for it but there isn’t much time left. Our buildings fall beneath us, the ground becomes nothing more than ash and a memory, and the people are lost to the quaking earth. But still there is no fire. Only rain.
One day soon my brother and I will be reunited. No doubt I’ll yell at him for a decade and he will wear that crestfallen look of his until I forgive him—but nothing will mar my happiness because we’ll be together.
Soon we will be reunited, in the life after death, but not today.
I am told that today is the end—of this town, of this life, of my old self. It is the end of Bennet Ravel as I knew her but it is not the end of me. The Guardians say there are great plans mapped out in the constellations of fate, great plans for me and my life. They say if I were to die today it would be a great woe upon the Earth. I’m not sure if I believe in their words, or their destinies, but if I believe in just one thing it is life. Worlds are torn apart, people wither to nothing but bones in the dirt, but there is always one thing that continues to exist, one thing unwilling to bend to the will of ruination.
I plan to be that one thing today.
I stand in the middle of a damp plain, stricken land spreading out on either side of me, my eyes on a city that was thriving and living only hours ago. Now it sinks into the ground. I draw in a breath of foul Mumbai air and resolve myself. I am told this is my time to shine, but I have no desire to shine.
I want to burn.
HONOUR
23:27. 10.10.2040. The Free Lands, Southlands, Northey Island.
I have escaped Forgotten London.
The free lands are not much more than a dead expanse of dust and burnt-out houses, occasionally broken up by a skeletal tree or row of brambles that look out of place in the epic nothingness. The island is so much bigger than I expected. We’ve walked for two days and we’re still weeks away from the top of the land. I thought Forgotten London was big but The Free Lands go on forever.
We walked through the day, the high sun and cold wind arguing over the temperature, until we got to an island ringed by a grassy marsh that used to be clear waters. Brown grasses cover the surface of the island, serving as a makeshift mattress for those who sleep restlessly under the stars.
I can’t sleep.
My paranoia tells me that Officials hide in the long grass, that the wind that stirs my hair is caused by an army charging at me, that the gentle lapping of the swamp water is soldiers swimming to kill us. My fear keeps my eyes open.
We haven’t come across any Officials yet, but Alba expects to. That’s why we’re sleeping where we are—far away from the cavern of what was Forgotten London, on a small circle of land that used to be called Northey Island. We’re moving gradually away from home, to a city in the north that will keep us safe—so I’m told.
I should feel safe here but I feel worse than I ever did in Forgotten London. I’m the most vulnerable I’ve ever been and I hate feeling like this. I’m exposed by the island’s lack of buildings, freaked out by its absolute silence. Give me the noise of bars and the raised voices of drunken arguments and I would feel at ease. Because of the complete lack of noise, I hear sounds where there’s nothing, which only fuels my paranoia more.
With every hour that passes I’m amazed I’m still alive.
But I’m free.
I escaped the Forgotten London border. I just don’t have the energy to be happy about it right now.
Most people are sleeping so I have nothing to distract myself from my delusions. I roll onto my back and watch the unchanging sky for a few minutes. When I’ve finally decided that there’s no chance of falling asleep, I tap Horatia on the shoulder to get her attention. She doesn’t acknowledge me but I know she’s awake. I’ve yet to see her sleep.
“I’m going for a walk. I won’t be long, okay?”
Tia doesn’t respond, but I didn’t expect her to. She stares ahead, unseeing. I brush the damp strands of hair from her forehead, trying valiantly not to let my smile flicker.
Lumbering to my feet, I swallow my worry with a gulp of salty air and follow the edge of the island. I’m careful not to go so close to the edge, in case I trip into the water and drown. After an hour or so of walking I see a figure silhouetted against the inky sky. I almost turn back but I think I recognise the way he stands.
“Yosiah?” I edge closer to the figure and it takes the definite shape of my friend.
“Honour,” he says without turning. His voice sounds how I feel.
I fold myself onto the grassy floor, running my fingers through the sharp, slick blades, and wait for Yosiah to join me. As Yosiah obliterates the grass beneath his feet with agitated fingers, I look across the water to the dark edge of the United Kingdom.
“Do you think we’re safe here?” I ask.
“No.” I think that’s all he’s going to reply, but then: “But we’re alive, and that’s a lot to ask for right now.”
I rest my arms on my knees and my head on my arms. “How’s Miya?”
It takes a few seconds for him to answer. “Bad.”
“Sorry.”
He stops ripping up grass abruptly. “I don’t know what to do.”
I don’t know what to do either. I’ve nothing to suggest, to help, so I stay silent. He clears his throat and drags a slow hand through his knotted hair.
“Has Horatia spoken yet?”
“No.” My voice is stuck somewhere below my tonsils. “Not yet.”
“She needs time.”
My sigh is visible as a cloud of fog cut through with moonlight. “So everyone keeps saying.”
“Loss can destroy anyone.” He glances at me. “How are you coping?”
I wish I knew. “I can’t understand anything in my head.”
“It gets better with time.” He heaves a deep breath, and then a gasp. “Look over there, across the sea.”
There’s nothing but the blackness of the land. “I can’t see anything.”
“Not the ground.” He points, and I squint in the dark to follow his attention to the sky.
“Stars?” I ask.
“Not stars. Do you see where the lights shine brighter? Where they look slightly blue?”
I do. There’s a patch of sky where the spots of light are bigger and pale blue if I focus on them. “Is it normally like that?”
“No. It’s an aircraft—a plane. The lights you’re seeing are windows.”
I jerk to my feet, my heart lurching with my body. “Can they see us?” I’m ready to grab my sister and run. I don’t think I can outrun a plane but I can try.
“No. The range of their sight is limited. I’m pretty sure they don’t have night vision.”
I gawp at him as he struggles to his feet, unsteady on his right leg. “Pretty sure?”
“Honour, calm down. It’s leaving.” His jaw is set, his chin sharp in the severe light of the moon.
I give him a weak smile. “I’ll calm down when you do.”
“They’ll be doing routine scans of the whole island for us. We’re okay here. They won’t search these small islands.”
“What about the safe zones?” I search frantically for the spot of brighter lights. It’s smaller than it was before. It is going away. “Officials will find them.”
“The safe zones have been set up for years. They know how to stay undetected.”
“But they’re all kids! What if they—”
“Honour.” He lays his hand on my shoulder. “They’ll be fine. Don’t you have enough to worry about, anyway, without another hundred children?”
He’s right, I do. I need to find a safe place for Tia where she can grieve, get better, and live a happy life. I need to find a way to do what The Unnamed asked me to—to unite The Forgotten Lands. I need to find John and demand answers. I need to look after my friends. And I need, most of all, to make sure this never happens again. To stop States from killing more people.
All of those things are impossible right now.
“How do you survive, Honour? You worry so much I wonder why it hasn’t torn you apart.”
“Are you sure it hasn’t?”
“Yes.” His words are so strong that I look up. “You’re still living, still fighting.” He shakes his head. “I don’t know how you do it.”
“Thanks. I think?” He doesn’t reply, so I fix my tired eyes on the sky again. “Are you sure it’s leaving?”
“I’m sure.”
I wait for my breathing to stop sprinting and then say, “They wouldn’t be able to land here anyway, would they? This island’s too small.”
He gives me a long look. Then he says, “No. They wouldn’t be able to land.”
I hear what he doesn’t say--they wouldn’t have to land to kill us.
“I can’t see it anymore.” I try to watch every inch of the sky but it’s impossible. I don’t stop scanning the darkness, though. Every star is a plane. Every plane is a hundred Officials coming to kill us.
“Yeah,” Yosiah says. “It’s gone.”
For a long while we don’t speak. We just stare at the marsh and the land in the distance, the water around the island brushing against our boots. My nostrils fill with the tang of the sea. Standing up for so long, just staring in silence, I find a way to be tired again. I think maybe I could sleep now.
“Yosiah!”
I jump out of my skin, turning my head at the same time Yosiah stumbles forward a step. My body coils against the threat, my hand itching for a weapon. I sigh in exasperation. This paranoia is getting out of hand. It’s only Miya, her hands in fists and her eyes blazing. Yosiah gives me an apologetic glance and then he’s walking away with Miya cutting a tense shadow beside him.
I settle down in the damp grass and watch the sky for aircrafts until I finally reunite with sleep.
I expected the end to come with fire, not rain, but the heavens don’t seem to care as they pour their sorrows onto me.
I always thought if the end came for me it would come for Branwell at the same time, but we are separated and death is nearing with each passing minute. I hoped he’d find me despite my own failed attempts to seek him out. I still hope for it but there isn’t much time left. Our buildings fall beneath us, the ground becomes nothing more than ash and a memory, and the people are lost to the quaking earth. But still there is no fire. Only rain.
One day soon my brother and I will be reunited. No doubt I’ll yell at him for a decade and he will wear that crestfallen look of his until I forgive him—but nothing will mar my happiness because we’ll be together.
Soon we will be reunited, in the life after death, but not today.
I am told that today is the end—of this town, of this life, of my old self. It is the end of Bennet Ravel as I knew her but it is not the end of me. The Guardians say there are great plans mapped out in the constellations of fate, great plans for me and my life. They say if I were to die today it would be a great woe upon the Earth. I’m not sure if I believe in their words, or their destinies, but if I believe in just one thing it is life. Worlds are torn apart, people wither to nothing but bones in the dirt, but there is always one thing that continues to exist, one thing unwilling to bend to the will of ruination.
I plan to be that one thing today.
I stand in the middle of a damp plain, stricken land spreading out on either side of me, my eyes on a city that was thriving and living only hours ago. Now it sinks into the ground. I draw in a breath of foul Mumbai air and resolve myself. I am told this is my time to shine, but I have no desire to shine.
I want to burn.
HONOUR
23:27. 10.10.2040. The Free Lands, Southlands, Northey Island.
I have escaped Forgotten London.
The free lands are not much more than a dead expanse of dust and burnt-out houses, occasionally broken up by a skeletal tree or row of brambles that look out of place in the epic nothingness. The island is so much bigger than I expected. We’ve walked for two days and we’re still weeks away from the top of the land. I thought Forgotten London was big but The Free Lands go on forever.
We walked through the day, the high sun and cold wind arguing over the temperature, until we got to an island ringed by a grassy marsh that used to be clear waters. Brown grasses cover the surface of the island, serving as a makeshift mattress for those who sleep restlessly under the stars.
I can’t sleep.
My paranoia tells me that Officials hide in the long grass, that the wind that stirs my hair is caused by an army charging at me, that the gentle lapping of the swamp water is soldiers swimming to kill us. My fear keeps my eyes open.
We haven’t come across any Officials yet, but Alba expects to. That’s why we’re sleeping where we are—far away from the cavern of what was Forgotten London, on a small circle of land that used to be called Northey Island. We’re moving gradually away from home, to a city in the north that will keep us safe—so I’m told.
I should feel safe here but I feel worse than I ever did in Forgotten London. I’m the most vulnerable I’ve ever been and I hate feeling like this. I’m exposed by the island’s lack of buildings, freaked out by its absolute silence. Give me the noise of bars and the raised voices of drunken arguments and I would feel at ease. Because of the complete lack of noise, I hear sounds where there’s nothing, which only fuels my paranoia more.
With every hour that passes I’m amazed I’m still alive.
But I’m free.
I escaped the Forgotten London border. I just don’t have the energy to be happy about it right now.
Most people are sleeping so I have nothing to distract myself from my delusions. I roll onto my back and watch the unchanging sky for a few minutes. When I’ve finally decided that there’s no chance of falling asleep, I tap Horatia on the shoulder to get her attention. She doesn’t acknowledge me but I know she’s awake. I’ve yet to see her sleep.
“I’m going for a walk. I won’t be long, okay?”
Tia doesn’t respond, but I didn’t expect her to. She stares ahead, unseeing. I brush the damp strands of hair from her forehead, trying valiantly not to let my smile flicker.
Lumbering to my feet, I swallow my worry with a gulp of salty air and follow the edge of the island. I’m careful not to go so close to the edge, in case I trip into the water and drown. After an hour or so of walking I see a figure silhouetted against the inky sky. I almost turn back but I think I recognise the way he stands.
“Yosiah?” I edge closer to the figure and it takes the definite shape of my friend.
“Honour,” he says without turning. His voice sounds how I feel.
I fold myself onto the grassy floor, running my fingers through the sharp, slick blades, and wait for Yosiah to join me. As Yosiah obliterates the grass beneath his feet with agitated fingers, I look across the water to the dark edge of the United Kingdom.
“Do you think we’re safe here?” I ask.
“No.” I think that’s all he’s going to reply, but then: “But we’re alive, and that’s a lot to ask for right now.”
I rest my arms on my knees and my head on my arms. “How’s Miya?”
It takes a few seconds for him to answer. “Bad.”
“Sorry.”
He stops ripping up grass abruptly. “I don’t know what to do.”
I don’t know what to do either. I’ve nothing to suggest, to help, so I stay silent. He clears his throat and drags a slow hand through his knotted hair.
“Has Horatia spoken yet?”
“No.” My voice is stuck somewhere below my tonsils. “Not yet.”
“She needs time.”
My sigh is visible as a cloud of fog cut through with moonlight. “So everyone keeps saying.”
“Loss can destroy anyone.” He glances at me. “How are you coping?”
I wish I knew. “I can’t understand anything in my head.”
“It gets better with time.” He heaves a deep breath, and then a gasp. “Look over there, across the sea.”
There’s nothing but the blackness of the land. “I can’t see anything.”
“Not the ground.” He points, and I squint in the dark to follow his attention to the sky.
“Stars?” I ask.
“Not stars. Do you see where the lights shine brighter? Where they look slightly blue?”
I do. There’s a patch of sky where the spots of light are bigger and pale blue if I focus on them. “Is it normally like that?”
“No. It’s an aircraft—a plane. The lights you’re seeing are windows.”
I jerk to my feet, my heart lurching with my body. “Can they see us?” I’m ready to grab my sister and run. I don’t think I can outrun a plane but I can try.
“No. The range of their sight is limited. I’m pretty sure they don’t have night vision.”
I gawp at him as he struggles to his feet, unsteady on his right leg. “Pretty sure?”
“Honour, calm down. It’s leaving.” His jaw is set, his chin sharp in the severe light of the moon.
I give him a weak smile. “I’ll calm down when you do.”
“They’ll be doing routine scans of the whole island for us. We’re okay here. They won’t search these small islands.”
“What about the safe zones?” I search frantically for the spot of brighter lights. It’s smaller than it was before. It is going away. “Officials will find them.”
“The safe zones have been set up for years. They know how to stay undetected.”
“But they’re all kids! What if they—”
“Honour.” He lays his hand on my shoulder. “They’ll be fine. Don’t you have enough to worry about, anyway, without another hundred children?”
He’s right, I do. I need to find a safe place for Tia where she can grieve, get better, and live a happy life. I need to find a way to do what The Unnamed asked me to—to unite The Forgotten Lands. I need to find John and demand answers. I need to look after my friends. And I need, most of all, to make sure this never happens again. To stop States from killing more people.
All of those things are impossible right now.
“How do you survive, Honour? You worry so much I wonder why it hasn’t torn you apart.”
“Are you sure it hasn’t?”
“Yes.” His words are so strong that I look up. “You’re still living, still fighting.” He shakes his head. “I don’t know how you do it.”
“Thanks. I think?” He doesn’t reply, so I fix my tired eyes on the sky again. “Are you sure it’s leaving?”
“I’m sure.”
I wait for my breathing to stop sprinting and then say, “They wouldn’t be able to land here anyway, would they? This island’s too small.”
He gives me a long look. Then he says, “No. They wouldn’t be able to land.”
I hear what he doesn’t say--they wouldn’t have to land to kill us.
“I can’t see it anymore.” I try to watch every inch of the sky but it’s impossible. I don’t stop scanning the darkness, though. Every star is a plane. Every plane is a hundred Officials coming to kill us.
“Yeah,” Yosiah says. “It’s gone.”
For a long while we don’t speak. We just stare at the marsh and the land in the distance, the water around the island brushing against our boots. My nostrils fill with the tang of the sea. Standing up for so long, just staring in silence, I find a way to be tired again. I think maybe I could sleep now.
“Yosiah!”
I jump out of my skin, turning my head at the same time Yosiah stumbles forward a step. My body coils against the threat, my hand itching for a weapon. I sigh in exasperation. This paranoia is getting out of hand. It’s only Miya, her hands in fists and her eyes blazing. Yosiah gives me an apologetic glance and then he’s walking away with Miya cutting a tense shadow beside him.
I settle down in the damp grass and watch the sky for aircrafts until I finally reunite with sleep.