Bound

By Tom Dillon

The world was once a place of plenty and wonders: famine and disease were largely unheard of, cities floated through the sky, everything appeared to be perfect. But it could not last. When the magic called Ve collapsed, society collapsed along with it: millions starved and the floating cities crashed to the ground. In the wreckage the byproducts of Ve use, magical beings called Amekt, went feral. This along with the ensuing wars rendered the mainland uninhabitable.

In the last days of the old empire, as things began to fall apart, a small group split off an island-sized piece of rock and seeded it with a plant that would allow it to float. For nearly 500 years, the island of Ansau has drifted in isolation on the ocean currents. Life is more difficult than it was, but the Island’s inhabitants have learned to use the trickle of Ve and stability has been the rule. But things are about to change again.

In the second story in the Broken Shores series, Kai goes though the Binding ceremony, but despite his new status as an adult, he discovers that he has yet to decide if he will choose his own path or let it be chosen for him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tom Dillon
• Release date: Jun 13, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476397382

Tom Dillon

Tom Dillon lives in Olympia, Washington with his awesome wife and an assortment of cats, ducks, and dogs. When he isn’t busy writing or reading, you can find him riding his bike, working wood, or rock climbing.

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Bound

by Tom Dillon

A Broken Shores Story

Copyright 2012 Tom Dillon

Smashwords Edition

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What matters is not that you boarded the ship, but whether the ship reached its destination due to or in spite of your actions. -Ansauan Proverb

Kinav island

59th day of Skohi, 471 AC

Are you excited? Kai’s father asked as they worked their way down the steep stairs towards their seats near the arena’s edge.

It should be a good fight, Kai said.

Not about that, I meant about the ceremony tomorrow.

Oh, Kai said. He wasn’t sure what his father wanted him to say. It was the last night that he would spend as part of his family’s household, and for the next ten years he would be a part of the Vaarplikt. He did not know what he would be doing, or even which of