Prism

By Matthew D. Ryan

Love or Destiny? That was Her Choice.

Long ago Akarra had set her heart on becoming Shardshaper even though that meant a life of solitude. But now, things have changed. She's in love with the Chieftain's son. She still wants to be Shardshaper, but oh, how she longs to share her soul with him.
Love can be such a bittersweet reality. And yet, where would we be without it? And is not part of its appeal, the sacrifices it forces upon us? Watch the struggle and feel the weight of sacrifice threaded throughout this tale.
"The characters are simply amazing and I found myself enthralled by them." Find out what the fuss is about. It is an unusual setting with unusual characters dealing with problems we all know so well. It's a must have.
Buy Prism now.
L

• Language: English
• Publisher: Matthew D. Ryan
• Release date: Jan 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370254217

Matthew D. Ryan

Looking for a vampire that actually kills people? So was I. So, I created one: Lucian val Drasmyr. He's not a teen heart throb. He's a killer. My first novel, Drasmyr, features him as the chief antagonist and a formidable force for darkness. Just in case I was unclear: he is pure evil. Unholy. Diabolical. A true scourge from Hell.I'm Matthew D. Ryan and I'm a fantasy author. My topics of choice include the aforementioned vampires, as well as dragons, wizards, magic ... that sort of thing. I get my inspiration from multiple sources, not least of which is my almost complete immersion in the fantasy genre over many, many years. I've read more fantasy novels than I can remember; I've been playing RPG games like D&D as both Dungeonmaster/Gamemaster and player for nearly forty years; and I've watched innumerable movies and television programs steeped in the fantastic and miraculous. All of that gives me a fertile imagination and a rich background of experience to draw upon. Writing about vampires or dragons is almost second nature for me now.My first novel, Drasmyr, started out as a short story. Then it grew into a stand-alone novel. Then it shifted into the prequel to my dark fantasy series, From the Ashes of Ruin. I've also written several small collections of short stories, a couple novellas, and even a non-fiction book about my struggles with mental illness -- I've unpublished that last for personal reasons. Additionally, I've run a number of web-sites and blogs here and there; and I've also done a couple speaking engagements on both worldbuilding and the writing process.So, if you like vampires or dragons, or are just into the fantasy genre in general, I'm your guy. Download one of my books now. I heartily recommend Drasmyr.Oh, by the way, if you go to my site: The Wizard's Inkwell (link below), I've started writing 5th Edition D & D Adventures (Under the SRD License). If you play D & D, you can download an adventure or two and make a go at it. They're great fun!

Book preview

Prism

Matthew D. Ryan

The Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2016 by Matthew D. Ryan

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Fiction by Matthew D. Ryan

From the Ashes of Ruin

Drasmyr (The Prequel)

Book I: The Children of Lubrochius

Book II: The Sceptre of Morgulan

Book III: The Citadel*

Short Story Collections

Of Dragons, Love, and Poison

Novellas

Prism

When Darkness Wins*

Non-Fiction by Matthew D. Ryan

Delusions of Grandeur

* Coming Soon

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Glossary

About the Author

Prologue (to Drasmyr)

Chapter 1

Akarra ran a three-fingered hand across her two antennae. Like her antennae, fingers, and hands, all the parts of her body were made of segmented quartz. Beneath her quartzflesh pulsed her lifelight: the powerful multi-hued energy that nourished her and expressed her deepest desires. She was a Quartzian, an inhabitant of the vast underground realm known simply as The Cavern.

She lived in Isha, the main village of the Ishod tribe, a complex of disparate caves and carven formations that housed the Quartzian people. Among this collection of dwellings, one stood out: the Shardshaper’s Cave, home to Yridia Felstaff, the Ishod Shardshaper, and Akarra’s instructor.

Akarra knelt expectantly on the floor near the back corner of Yridia’s Cave.

Pattern matching is most important, dear, Yridia said.

I know, Mistress Shardshaper, Akarra replied, head bowed in deference. You’ve told me so—many times—but I just don’t see the use of geometry. She was tired; it had been a long training session and she still wasn’t through.

The small but cozy cave—one in which she had spent many long hours engaged in study—had been hollowed out in the shape of a twelve-sided figure of exquisite design—a dodecahedron, it was called. It at once conveyed a sense of space, mystery, and power. Much like the element it represented: the ether. Each of the twelve faces of the shape formed a perfect pentagon—a five sided figure of further significance and meaning. The pentagon-shaped floor, of course, was made of clouded white quartz; the ceiling, clear. The pentagons on the walls alternated between white and clear. There were no cracks or fissures or blemishes; all the angles and divisions were neat, clean, and precise, thus regulating the temperature of the room perfectly. As Akarra perused the features of the cave, she felt contentment and peace, and her antennae glowed a pale greenish yellow in response. This was like a second home for her. She was the apprentice Shardshaper. One of the most respected members of the tribe.

Akarra watched Yridia move to the center of the pentagon floor and squat down in front of her. Yridai’s yenshi robe billowed out and she produced a crystal of transparent blue quartz in the shape of a perfect tetrahedron. Her Heartshard. A piece of the Heart Crystal itself, the source of the Shardshaper’s power.

Akarra could feel the Shard’s presence.

Your next task shall involve manipulating the stonelight in the Heartshard, Yridia said, holding the precious object out to Akarra. Akarra lifted her stumpy arms and grasped the shard with three thick fingers. She bowed her head to her Mistress, took the Shard into her possession, and patiently waited for Yridia to speak.

Suddenly, Yridia coughed violently and a shimmer of multi-colored lifelight passed through her quartzflesh body. Akarra looked on in concern; such coughing fits were becoming more and more frequent with Yridia.

But Yridia ignored it.

Instead, Yridia produced another crystal: a clump of cracked, twisted quartz. She placed it in front of Akarra and said, I want you to shape this crystal into an icosahedron. Work quickly. Now, go.

Akarra blanched: An icosahedron was the most complicated perfect solid known. It was a quasi-spherical shape consisting of twenty identical triangular sides. A correctly formed icosahedron would fit in a perfect sphere in such a way that every vertex of every triangle would just touch the inner surface of the sphere. Actually, that was true of all perfect solids.

Akarra lifted the Shard and pointed the flat face of one of its triangular faces towards the clump of crystal. She bowed her head in concentration, summoning the power of her will. Her mind reached into the Shard; she could sense the Bond it had made with Yridia. The Bond inhibited Akarra’s control of the Heartshard, but not entirely: she could still harness the power of the Shard, just at a less effective level. She did so, and the Shard began to glow in her hands. First it glowed red, pulsing with energy, temperature rising. Next, orange, and the temperature began to drop. Next, yellow and a flash of cold. The other colors followed in turn: green, blue, indigo, violet, and then finally, it went clear. She sensed the presence of deathlight, and saw it in her mind’s eye although her normal vision failed her. She discharged a thick beam of deathlight focused on the lump of crystal. Immediately, the crystal began to morph and ripple.

She altered the stonelight emitted by the Heartshard, adding a thin stream of blue to the deathlight.

The cracks in the crystal disappeared first. Then the clump of quartz bulged outward until it formed a rough sphere. The sphere became more exact; perfect in appearance. Then, a protrusion formed on its surface—something much like a tiny ridge—it was soon echoed by another, then another. The three formed a triangular face. The first of the twenty sides of the icosahedron. Once the first such side had formed, the others quickly followed. Soon, the quartz had been shaped into a perfectly formed twenty-sided polyhedron.

Akarra cut off the deathlight and lowered the Heartshard to the floor in front of her. She passed a cursory glance over the icosahedron, pleased with her work. Then, she expulsed a ripple of joyful golden lifelight. She’d never formed an icosahedron before, and was quite happy with her success.

Yridia smiled then doubled over as she was seized with a round of violent shimmering and coughing again. Her body flickered through a dozen colors, many not from the standard spectrum, but instead a mix from those basic colors. After a moment she straightened, cleared her throat, and said, You have done well, student. Now name the five perfect solids, describe them, and tell me what they represent.

It was an easy question, but Akarra bowed her head once again, and dutifully responded, "The first is the tetrahedron; it