Blood Tied: Last Moon Rising, #4

By Dale Ibitz

In the final installment to the Last Moon Rising series, the road to harmony is filled with conflict.

18 year-old Haley’s been betrayed not only by her blood-brother Luke, but Tuggin, the Menta-witch compelled to protect her…and destined to kill her. Almost everyone she knows has lied to her. Some want a savior; some want to use her; some want to destroy her. As she soldiers on, gathering the Eyid-emos and finding the stones of power to stop the war raging between the gods of nature, she should be at the height of her power and confidence. She should feel complete. What she shouldn’t feel is the chaos rising inside her mind.

Haley’s sanity slowly unravels. She sees things and people that aren’t there. She’s suspicious of her brother and her best friend Elana, imagining betrayal. Tuggin and Luke invade her mind, creating confusion, trying to convince her that her confidant Dane is really her arch enemy, Ian. And then there are the death threats from a trusted Menta-witch and Soltar, the Fire Eyid himself. Or has she imagined those, too?

When the madness reaches its breaking point she’s betrayed, again, by the person she considers a trusted friend. At the point of a total collapse, the Eyid-emos lose faith in her as she spirals into insanity, leaving her to fight the darkness alone.

The fate of all seven globes in the planetary chain rests on the one person who may slowly be losing her mind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dale Ibitz
• Release date: Oct 18, 2014
• ISBN: 9781502252449

Book preview

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Chapter One

It was the kind of birthday that totally sucked ass.

No cake, no party, no balloons. Just insane heat, my body puking sweat out of every pore, skin itching beneath sweaty clothes and a heavy backpack, and an impossible mission to find the last stone of power while dodging a couple of bat-shit crazy hall-gods who just weren't going to be happy until they killed me. Whoever said birthdays were happy had never been to Eyidora, sweltering under a blistering sun in the middle of a war between the gods of nature.

I swallowed, loudly, dropping my pack as I stared at the stone wall, the wall that hid the gateway to Earth. One year ago today, on my seventeenth birthday, my mom disappeared during a home invasion, and my world turned upside down. One year ago today, I came tumbling ass over tea kettle through the gateway from Earth to Eyidora. One year ago today, I'd shivered in my jammies in this very spot on Mt. Xenia before being kidnapped by hall-god Tuggin.

I bit my lip. I wasn't thinking about Tuggin. Not today. It was my birthday. I should be thinking happy thoughts, chocolate cake thoughts, ice cream and party thoughts, yet I couldn't dredge any from my heat-infected wallowing.

Now, I was a year older and supposedly a year wiser. I didn't feel wise. I felt tired, and hot, and sort of stupid for standing like dork staring at a rock wall. Even though it was my birthday, I wanted to go to Earth to check out my old home, the urge building inside me like a tornado, swirling and growing and filling me with a need to see. Now the urge withered and died under an intense stomach cramp that I quickly recognized was the urge to puke.

My gaze tossed over the faces of the gods of nature, the Eyids, carved into the rock. They were familiar faces to me ... some days I would even say unfortunately familiar. Nomer, the Land Eyid, was an old man with a gray beard and laugh lines around his eyes. Then there was Nala, the Water Eyid, a long-haired blonde with a moss crown, and even in the carving the look on her face was all ‘don't hate me because I'm beautiful.’ I licked my lips and studied a pointy-looking bald guy, who was none other than Soltar, the Fire Eyid — I could almost smell sulfur coming from his image. And last was Sylpha, the Air Eyid and my ancestor, who was a wispy spirit figure. I knew enough not to let her ethereal appearance fool me, because she was a bossy little hard-ass.

I sighed and stared while a bead of sweat trailed along my hairline and down my neck. Trees towered above me, and sunlight leaked through the wilting branches. A breeze stirred the sultry air, making sun-spots dance over the carvings and dried leaves click like beetles. Instead of refreshing the sweat on my back, it felt more like standing in front of a mega-sized dryer vent spewing clammy, hot air. I was pretty sure I felt my hair frizz.

The ground was dry and cracked, partially from the drought, partially from earthquakes. Trees lay broken and twisted, and a few charred stumps rose like the blackened ghosts of dead warriors. The scent of baked dirt, dead leaves, and toasted pine needles mingled with the smoky stench. It smelled like death.

Or war.

Eyidora was a war zone, the gods of nature having been at war since the Web of Harmony had been broken. Generations ago Tomas, a Water Eyid descendant, had tried to control the globe by rearranging the four Eyid stones of power in the Web of Harmony so that water—the lowest element in the chain—had an elevated status. His plan was an epic fail, the Eyid stones were lost, and the Eyids had been battling ever since because their harmony had been destroyed.

A bird chirped lazily then stilled, as if the energy expended to sing was too monumental a task for its tiny bird body. Someone coughed behind me. My back muscles clenched, and I shifted from one foot to the other. Still, I didn’t activate the gateway.

We going, or what? asked Axel.

I turned and faced the Eyid-emos, the Eyid descendants, standing in a cluster behind me, Axel raising his eyebrows while waiting for my answer. Air Eyid-emos like me, my twin brother's features were similar to mine, though he was taller than my 5’ 5" frame. His brown hair stuck up at different angles, his slate-gray eyes wide and questioning, and I knew his arms under the puffy, tan shirt were scrawny. Like me, his dirty toes poked through his sandals. As babies, we must have been two pig-pens in the play-pen.

What's the rush?

It's hot as fire blowing out Satan's crack, and I hadn't planned on spending my birthday staring at a mountain of rock getting a major case of swamp ass. I'm hoping it's cooler on Earth.

Way too much information.

He shrugged. You asked.

Bah, Haley must have forgotten how to activate the gateway, said Telsa.

My upper lip curled, my lungs tightened then expanded. The breeze stiffened, prodding the other girl's dark brown curls to sweep across her cheeks. As Land Eyid-emos, she was burdened with an arsenal of knives and hatchets. They were everywhere: hanging from her belt, strapped to her arms, sticking out of her boots. She’d refused the light-colored tunic and pants that Dane insisted we wear to keep cool, opting to keep her snug pants (torn off at the thigh, so now they were snug shorts and damn, she had the tightest quads I’d ever seen) with its looped belt for holding her knives, and a tan vest. Perspiration made her coffee-colored skin glisten. She was definitely in the hall-jock category.

My stomach did a slow turn. Despite being a bully, she was part of the Eyid-emos team trying to restore harmony to Eyidora by ending the war that burned, gutted, drowned and rocked not only Eyidora, but all seven globes in the planetary chain, including Earth. But that didn’t mean I had to like her, or her like me. And she didn't, as even now her brown eyes narrowed at me in a challenge.

The warrior girl's rude, muttered a voice from my backpack. Not that I don’t disagree that you're twittier than a cave bat.

The fire bird had its beak in my backpack, its red and gold wings stretched to the sides as it leaned forward, gold tail feathers sticking out from its butt like a folded fan. Brilliant in color, those feathers could light up the darkest night, and even lit Nomer’s lantern. Despite being handy in a dark fix, however, the bird was no ray of sunshine.

Rolling my eyes, I ignored them both.

Did you forget? my brother asked.

No.

And I hadn’t, but I was scared to take the next move; Ian haunted my dreams, taunting me, telling me to go home like a good little girl. I knew he referred to Earth, the place where I'd grown up. I bit the inside of my cheek, because I sensed the threat behind his words. Eyidora was slowly dying under the Fire Eyid`s strength ... what condition was Earth in? Unease settled between my shoulder blades, making the hair along my neck stiffen.

Then we should go, Elana said.

A Water Eyid-emos, her blue eyes were flecked with black spots, making me think of cool, deep oceans. Her blonde hair swept past her cheeks and draped her shoulders in silky waves, her skin perfect ivory, and her lips rosy and full. Even sweating she was beautiful, perspiration making her skin sparkle like dew, very much like her Water Eyid ancestor. A year older than me, she was true hall-goddess material and, as Tuggin’s twin, looking at her made my heart pinch.

I would not think about him. Not today. Not like I’d done every day of the last three months since he’d betrayed me, which felt like three years. Because of course I hated him.

I was so much better off without him.

Kora, a gray, white-faced, gray cat sitting by her feet, blinked once at me and then licked a gigantic paw as if I was unworthy of her attention. Unlike Elana, there was nothing delicate about her. She was huge, looking more mountain lion than cat, and had to weigh at least 40 pounds. The cat had tripled her size since Elana had adopted her, when Luke, Telsa's twin brother, had left.

I rubbed my mouth. Luke, two years my senior, had not only been one of my best friends, but had become my blood brother. Then he’d turned into a dick and tried to kill me — twice — and steal the Land Eyid stone.

Spreading her paw, the cat licked between her talon-like claws then, as if sensing my gaze, blinked at me, one green eye milky white. According to Telsa, Luke had blinded the poor thing.

Shuddering, I looked away.

I remembered telling Tuggin that there was something off about that cat, which seemed to take a weird interest in me, like I was prey. I ignored the swelling ache in my chest, the debilitating ache that made it difficult to think, to move, to function. The consuming ache that stemmed from Tuggin's absence because, of course, I wasn't thinking about him. At all.

I stared at the wall.

Elana’s right, Dane, a Fire Eyid-emos, said. Quadralune's only two months from now. He tilted his head, his green gaze slicing the distance between us. Unless there’s another reason you don’t want to go.

Flinching, I squeezed the seals on my mental shield, sort of like a heavy, black blanket that blocked my aura so that others couldn’t read my emotions. I couldn’t let anyone see how Tuggin’s betrayal had me shattered or dreams of Ian—Dane's dick twin—had me shaken. I had to be Eyid-emos strong, for the team, for Eyidora, for the globes.

But he was right. Quadralune was the only time of the year the four harvest moons, or truhaan, rose together. And it was the only time we could complete the Web of Harmony and end the war. Of course, Dane's evil twin had other plans for the Web of Harmony come Quadralune time.

My gaze flashed to him and then away. A few months older than Telsa, his black hair swept his jaw, his tanned skin a sharp contrast to his loose, white clothes. High cheek-bones, dimpled chin, tall and lean with a swimmer’s physique, he was crazy good-looking in a Gods-help-a-girl's-heart kind of way.

He was identical to his brother. Gods, but I’d been stupid and naive, falling for Ian back on Earth when I thought he was just a high school hall-god; out of reach but so delicious-looking. But once on Eyidora, he’d shown his true colors, which was a dick with a capital D. 

His plan was to change the order of the Eyid stones in the Web of Harmony, putting fire in control instead of air and eliminating water, thus destroying all seven globes in the planetary chain. Then all of Eyidora would feel like a forsaken hell-hole, and we would all be dead and rotting under a relentless sun and Ian would become a god of a new race, god of death.

Despite the sultry air, I shivered, because I was also a part of his plan ... as his queen. When I refused, he decided to just kill me instead. And he’d tried more than once. First, he tried to roast me alive at Ralos, before I kicked his butt. Then he poisoned me and tried to break me in Tamoor, and yeah, I kicked his butt again. Of course, Tuggin discovered my unconscious body and carried me to safety, allowing Telsa to heal me by giving me her blood.

I swallowed. I would not think about Tuggin today.

The Eyids weren’t down with Ian’s whole I’m-going-take-over-the-globe plan, but they existed on another plane and couldn’t stop him. According to the Eyids, who kept popping into my dreams to demand this or order that, it was all up to me because I was some kind of Web Keeper, whatever that was. What I did know was I had to lead the Eyid-emos, find the lost Eyid stones, and restore them to the Web of Harmony. In two months.

Tension slid through my shoulders, and my hand found the comforting lump of the milky Air Eyid stone hanging from a chain around my neck. Over the past year, we’d found three of the Eyid stones. The Water Eyid stone hung from Elana’s neck on a frilly, blue ribbon, the blue gem sparkling like a pool of water against her cream-colored shirt. Telsa carried the yellow Land Eyid stone on a brown, leather cord. But the Fire Eyid stone was MIA with a capital we-are-screwed, because to get the Fire Eyid stone, we had to find Ian. He had it, and we needed it. That’s why we were going to Lak’ Toom, the Fire Eyid’s territory, to steal it from him. Until I made everyone stop at Mt. Xenia so that I could stare at the gateway like a dork.

I took a deep breath. Let’s do it.

Finally! The bird’s head shot out of my backpack, a pair of undies hanging from its beak. Oops. My bad.

Are those what I think they are? Axel asked.

Damn it, you stupid bird! I snatched the undies off its beak and shoved them back inside, heat shooting up my neck and through my face.

The bird’s beak dropped open. Well, you don't have to be so rude.

My brother slapped his knee. Oy! That’s classic!

Telsa's alto tones joined his laughter. Elana smiled, stroking Kora between the ears while Dane’s lips twitched in fleeting amusement.

Clenching my jaw, I squared my shoulders and pivoted to face the rock wall once again. "Zentu."

The rock shifted and cracked, the hole growing wider as fog drifted from the newly-formed cave and captured my feet. Without looking back, I leaped into darkness.

Chapter Two

I floated in the anasalar, riding through the gateway while fog clung to my skin, damp and warm. The scent of wet dirt was thick in my nose, occasional streaks of color shooting through the mist, and it seemed like only minutes before I was rolling across the ground. Jerking to a stop, my elbow rapped against a rock as a poof of gray dust billowed around my face. Dust clouds and grunts signaled the other Eyid-emos funneling out of the cave behind me.

I rubbed dust out of my eyes. Slowly, I stood, my mouth dropping open and my elbow aching as I stared at the destruction.

What the hell happened? Axel asked, coughing.

Fire, I whispered.

If I didn't know I was standing in Kent Falls State Park in Kent, Connecticut, I wouldn't have recognized it. The forest had been annihilated, the towering trees reduced to shadowy, crippled skeletons in a gray landscape. Rocks were scarred with scorch marks, and a thick layer of ash coated the ground like dingy snow, the lingering stench of old smoke saturating what was left of the forest. The silence throbbed inside my head: no chattering squirrels, no singing birds, no breeze sighing through the leaves. Just the silence of death.

A ball of lead seemed to sink to the bottom of my belly. Beside me, Telsa growled.

You think Ian was here on some kind of pay-back mission? Axel asked.

The ball of lead dropped to my toes. My knees felt loose, rubbery, and I locked them to keep from dropping. I glanced at Dane. His green eyes glittered bright in the gloom, but he stayed silent.

Why would Ian bother with Earth? Telsa's voice sounded tight, as though she had to force them through her pinched lips, white-knuckling a knife tied to her thigh, which trembled. As Land Eyid-emos, dead trees didn't sit well with her.

Elana ran a hand through her hair. Because ...

My house.

My immobility snapped like a rubber band and I jetted down the mountain, veering toward a large scorch-marked rock, the only familiar landmark left. Ash billowed from my feet, twisting around me as I tore through the blackened trees. The others followed, feet pounding.

I slowed when we reached what used to be a pine needle-strewn path, now winding through the bleak landscape like a dusty, narrow road. To my left, what should have been the rumble of Kent Falls sounded more like a water-saving shower. No time for that now. I veered off the path and headed toward home.

Or what used to be home.

I halted so suddenly Axel bumped into me.

Sorry, love.

Oh, shit. Covering my mouth with one hand, I gripped my stomach with the other.

This couldn't be my house, the place where I grew up, the place where I'd hiked for hours, the place where I'd filled bird feeders and collected leaves and made snow angels. It was gone, nothing left but a chimney standing like a headstone over a blackened foundation. It yawned like a grave, burying my memories, my childhood, my life as I once knew it. The large oak tree next to the house stood scorched and shriveled, one limb hanging like a broken arm.

Sorry, love, Axel said again and patted my back. Seeing this sucks, especially on our birthday.

My body shook. My heart pumped. My lungs expanded and energy flowed through my veins. A breeze kicked up ash, swirling it into dust whorls that skirted the ground. He was right; seeing my destroyed house on my birthday was a big-time suck, this gift from that dick-wad Fire Eyid descendant the icing on my non-existent birthday cake.

I'm going to kill him.

I panted, energy rising, my skin burning with the fevered urge to hurt the rat-bastard, and hurt him bad. The breeze intensified, wind whipping my hair against my cheeks. The broken tree branch snapped, crashing to the ground while ash whirled.

Who? asked Elana.

Ian.

Why? Telsa demanded.

I whirled toward her. A tornado of ash, following my movement, made her curls bounce. Because the bastard burned my house down!

You don't know that. Dane's voice was low, smooth, calm.

Yes, I do. It was him, I know it.

"Ach, you don't know, you think it."

And you're defending him ... why?

I'm only trying to get you to calm down.

Don't tell me to calm down. Even as I said it, I knew I sounded like a witch whose eye of newt had been stolen. I took a deep breath, calming the tension in my blood until the wind died.

Telsa kicked a burned branch, which crumpled to dust beneath her boot. Does Haley have proof Ian did this?

No, but I know it was him. I was nothing if not stubborn.

Why? Dane tilted his head, waiting for my answer.

He's pissed because he can't win. He can't beat me, and he knows it. Plus, I'd kind of wrecked his home, but not on purpose. We'd been fighting, and my powers had gone out of control, blowing his house down.

Does he?

I pulled my head back at his question. Of course he didn't. He was numb-nuts crazy, delusional, and no matter how many times I kicked his ass, he'd pursue me and his plan until one of us died.

I lifted my chin. Of course, he does.

Turning my back on his disbelieving expression, I stared at my house. Even though I no longer lived on Earth my connection to it hadn't been broken, being part of my ancestry. Thankfully, Mom was safe on Eyidora, and as far as I knew, the house had been left empty since we'd left. A quick scan of the area confirmed that none of the few neighboring houses had been spared. I hoped no one had died.

The backs of my eyes burned. Though I still loved Earth, there was nothing left for me here except memories.

Let's go, I said, my words sounding constricted in my tight throat.

I led the others back to the trail, but instead of heading toward the gateway, we trekked down the side of the mountain, the sound of Kent Falls slipping through the charred trees. Though two-hundred-fifty feet in length, the falls wound its way down mountainous and what used to be wooded terrain, so it couldn't be viewed in its entirety from any one spot.

Before long, we reached my favorite look-out spot, grouping on a large boulder that stretched out over the falls, the ground falling away on three sides to give a vertiginous view of water rushing beneath us. I scooted close to the edge until my stomach swooped and my knees grew weak in that I'm-going-to-fall feeling.

The falls, once a crushing mass of water, had weakened to half its size and strength. Not even water could escape the wrath of fire.

Is this the waterfall of your home that you told us about? Elana asked, leaning to get a better view.

I nodded. My chest felt hollow, as though my heart had disintegrated.

It is not what I expected.

Haley exaggerates, Telsa said.

It's not much to look at, Axel agreed.

It used to be, I whispered.

Okay, maybe a little bit of exaggeration there. Kent Falls was infantile on a Niagara Falls scale, but it was pretty cool for being practically in my backyard. My gaze traveled down-stream, stopping at a movement along the rocky bank.

An old woman knelt on a rock, dressed in a baggy house dress. Her large breasts sagged and swayed as she leaned over and scrubbed at something in the water. Sitting back on her heels, she swung a piece of wet cloth and slapped it against the rocks. As though feeling my gaze, she looked up at me, winking and smiling, one large tooth hanging over her bottom lip. Then she went back to washing her clothes.

What the hell?

What? Axel craned his neck, staring in the same direction I was.

"Don't you think it's weird for an old woman to be washing her clothes here?"

What woman? Elana asked.

I pointed. That one.

There's no woman there. Haley's delusional.

I swung to face Telsa, wanting to erase her smirk with the back of my hand. A breeze stirred against my cheek, burning with anger.

Are you going whacka?

Damn, even my own brother was questioning my sanity.

No! She's right there. I swung back to the river bank, but the woman was gone. Slowly, I dropped my arm to my side while the bottom dropped from my stomach. She's gone now, I said faintly, no longer sure.

Hmm, Elana murmured. Perhaps it was the play of light on the water.

I nodded, but I knew it wasn't the play of light, or a shadow, or a hallucination. The hairs on the back of my neck pricked, and I glanced at Dane, head tilted as he watched me. Without a word, I turned and led the others back to the gateway.

Chapter Three

When we tumbled back through the gateway to Eyidora, we were greeted with a firestorm. Lightning battered the mountain, scorching trees while flaring leaves were swept along by the wind. The heat scalded my face, a tightening of the skin that suddenly felt sun-burned, while sweat poured down my back. Wide-eyed, I pressed myself back against the rock wall, unable to find an escape path through the inferno before us. Looked like Soltar was hand-delivering his personal birthday gift to me, complete with fireworks.

We're screwed, Axel said beside me.

I caught Dane's gaze as he watched the play of fire. As descendant of the Fire Eyid, he didn't seem too bothered by the heat.

Activate the gateway!

Before he had a chance to respond, there was a resounding crack as thunder echoed against the mountain. Racing through the sky, dark clouds obscured the sun, making me shiver as the air cooled. The sky crackled, and rain burst from the clouds, a drenching downpour that curtained the landscape. Within seconds, I was soaked to the bone, hair hanging down my face and clinging to my skin.

Just like that, the battle was done. Having put the fires out, the clouds

Reviews for Blood Tied

[eisah-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a non-reciprocal review.(This review will contain spoilers)."Fire in the Blood" is a nice little fantasy adventure.I think the second half of the book is much stronger than the first half. The first half is slow. When Haley ends up in the next world she doesn't know where Tuggin is taking her, what he wants, or anything. And she doesn't ask. She doesn't ask him or the other people she meets, and this is a consistent problem through most of the book.I'd say the second problem is that Haley's sole connection to the male characters throughout the majority of the book is that she finds them attractive, and that is repeated over and over again. It would have been fine to mention her attraction to either of them about a third or a fourth of the time she did, but the book gets overloaded with her telling the reader how hot they are. Throughout the first half of the book many paragraphs can be summed up as, "Tuggin is hot. But he's a jerk."The other parts work much better. I liked the descriptions for the water and air eyids. The action picks up after she breaks away from Tuggin and takes her own path. Although I was confused by the path she took (even if she didn't want to be caught by someone else, I would think she'd still hesitate to choose the "fiery desert death trap" path) it did get more exciting at the end.I think a good editor could clean up a lot of the repetitive parts and strengthen other parts really well. For example:(Slightly changed to take out stuttering and such)."Some have killed for it, betrayed for it. Some have even broken their promises."In this instance I would swap "killed" and "broken their promises", because killing someone is a lot harsher than breaking a promise to them. An editor can easily tweak things like that to give them more oomph.Other descriptions worked really well. When she was describing Ian using his powers, I liked things like this:"Ian's lips moved a half-second behind his words."It made for a great imagery.I was fine with Haley saying she was sick of following everyone else, but I was wondering when she would remember that not creating harmony would likely get her mom burned to a crisp. She seemed to forget things like that and she doesn't seem to consider who might be lying about what. She'll believe one person is lying over another person and, even as the facts fall apart around her, won't reconsider what is a lie and what isn't.At the end of the book she thinks this: "I should just ask them and find out for sure, rather than believe anything that came out of Ian's mouth."I practically cheered at that line because I had been waiting for her to finally question what was really true. But then she drops the subject and never asks. She doesn't ask Tuggin or Elana, or anyone else who would know.Another spot for me that was both good and bad was Tanner. I liked Tanner. I think she worked as a character, and in particular I liked this line from her:"I kick him in vulnerable thpot. Hurry"The problem with Tanner came more from Haley's side. Haley is well aware that Tanner is part of a society where women are slaves. She's also fully aware of mind control. However, when Tanner was helping Ian because he promised to be with her, Haley considers her a traitor. That would be fine for an immediate reaction, but knowing that women are slaves and that there's mind control, she should take into account Tanner's position. She knows that Tanner probably didn't have much of a choice in anything she did.I was disappointed there wasn't more effort in trying to save Tanner. Haley didn't have to successfully save her, but trying to grab her or something would have helped. Tanner just took lightning for her, she deserves a little bit of effort! And after she's gone she's pretty much forgotten.I would have liked Haley to have come to a better understanding of where Tanner was coming from. She saw what women were being put through in their society.The whole "she betrayed me" idea is a problem Haley has several times in the book. If any other woman is attracted to a man that Haley is also attracted to, Haley has issues with them. In the beginning her friend Elana appears to be speaking to Ian on friendly terms, and because of that Haley determines that Elana has betrayed her. It's an overreaction.Later on, a character seems to like, or at least be friendly, with Tuggin. Haley reacts badly to that, too, constantly having an attitude that he can 'run to her arms, as if I would care'.The third time is with Ian and Tanner, as I mentioned above.Haley reacts really poorly to other girls who so much as act friendly towards men she's attracted to.Like I said at the start of the review, I think the book ended stronger than it started. At the beginning I was waiting for something to happen, and at the end I wanted to see what would happen in the next chapter.The battle between Haley and Ian was good. I liked when Haley started realizing she had powers and using them. More experimentation would have nice, but I also understand that the ending happened over a short period of time and she didn't have much time to experiment with what she could do.I do like that Haley understood that Ian was not a good person to be attracted to. It would have been nice if she lost some of her attraction to him because of his personality. People do become more or less attracted to others because of how they act.At the end Haley decides to go check on her mom - but instead of going home and forgetting that the worlds might be destroyed (which would include her mother dying), she says she wants to check and she'll come right back.The last chapter is also the first time I felt any sort of connection between Haley and Tuggin. In the first half of the book we keep getting told she's attracted to him, but that doesn't really make a connection.The world was well built up by the end and there was an understanding of what was going on. I liked Tuggin more in the last chapter, and Haley was starting to make her own decisions.I wouldn't mind seeing where the series goes from here, and if someone is looking for a fantasy adventure it's not a bad book to pick up, and I hope the next book continues to improve from where she left off on this book.