Hidden in Mist

By Chrissy Wissler

Kate, her hands cold and numb, wished for the press of books and the whispers of classmates. Anything but pine trees drenched in mist. Seeping from trunks and branches. Needles so dark they appeared black.

No way. No how. Not going in there.

And not her decision.

Not with her mom and her crazy idea to hike Mount Rainier in the middle of winter. With trees that whispered.

An exhilarating story of magic and mystery, and a young woman brave enough to find herself. "Hidden in Mist," the first story in the riveting Elven Heritage series.

"I love this [story]; it was a very fast and clear read. A wonderful coming-of-age fantasy novel." —Dean Wesley Smith, USA Today Bestselling Author, on Hidden in Time

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blue Cedar Publishing
• Release date: Feb 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370280247

Chrissy Wissler

Chrissy’s short fiction has appeared in the anthologies: Fiction River: Risk-Takers, Fiction River Presents: Legacies, Fiction River Presents: Readers' Choice, Deep Magic, and When Dreams Come True (writing as Christen Anne Kelley). She writes fantasy and science fiction, as well as a softball, contemporary series for both romance and young adult (Little League Series and Home Run). Before turning to fiction, Chrissy also wrote many nonfiction articles for publications such as Montana Outdoors, Women in the Outdoors, and Jakes Magazine. In 2009, Inside Kung Fu magazine awarded her with their ‘Writer of the Year’ award. Follow her blog on being a parent-writer at Parents and Prose.

Book preview

Hidden in Mist

Hidden in Mist

An Elven Heritage Short Story

Chrissy Wissler

Blue Cedar Publishing

Contents

Hidden in Mist

Sneak Peak: Hidden in Time

An Impatient Forest. One Stubborn Girl.

Also by Chrissy Wissler

About the Author

Hidden in Mist

There was no way Kate was setting foot in that forest.

Not with those pines…those trees practically drenched in mist. No, as if the mist were seeping from their trunks and branches.

As if they were one and the same.

Their needles so dark they looked almost black. Disappearing right into that mist and farther up…so far up she couldn’t see where the trees stopped and the sky began.

That gray, moody sky.

If she just gave it a minute, she was sure it’d open up and drop buckets of water on her, her mom, and this crazy idea about hiking at Mount Rainier when, as far as she was concerned, it was still in the middle of winter.

Even if there was no snow…right at this particular spot.

Kate gripped the worn, fraying strap of her backpack. Hands cold, numbed. She almost wished for the heavy, pressing weight of books. Of her classmates. Of what they said behind her back.

Whispering.

Cold, unwelcoming eyes slanting towards her.

Just like that forest.

Not to mention the single, itsy-bitsy trail cutting into that forest—boot-packed dirt mostly covered with green stuff and leaves—that she was supposed to follow. As if this were no problem. Head right into the creepy forest that was sending her stomach twisting.

Making the hairs on her neck stand up on edge.

She felt it.

Really.

She wasn’t crazy.

Those trees were actually bending towards her. She could hear the creaking of bark as it twisted.

Turned to her.

Her breath puffed out in a white, cloudy mist.

Her mom was crazy. Insane. This place was supposed to make her feel better?

But seriously, if the creepy factor wasn’t gonna clue her mom in, you’d think the emergency vehicles and rescue guys behind her would do the trick.

But no.

Not her mother.

Kate glanced over her shoulder. The dozens of men and even a few dogs, making their way to the visitor center and back country office. Two buildings that looked like they’d fought tooth, nail, and floorboard for this spot in the forest. Their brown coat of paint, now flaking and peeling, was clearly the loser of that battle.

There were a lot of rescue workers, she noticed. All with strained faces. Conversations nonexistent.

Part of her wanted to know what had happened. Was it a rescue or a recovery?

But the other half, the part of her that looked at this forest, part of Mount Rainier and the National Park, with its misty claws and twisty trees, that half…didn’t want to know.

Was afraid to know.

Every parking space was taken. Vans marked