The Jade Arch

By Christa Yelich-Koth

Book 2 in the Land of Iyah series.
YA fantasy.
Ashlee doesn’t feel sane. Just about to start the eleventh grade, she feels like her life is coming apart at the seams. A dream leads her to believe someone close to her needs her help—but that’s impossible! And how can a dream be real?

With the help of her friends, Ashlee must learn to trust in the unbelievable, to prove not only that she’s not insane, but that her worth lies beyond her own concept of reality.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christa Yelich-Koth
• Release date: Feb 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463478240

Christa Yelich-Koth

Christa Yelich-Koth is an award-winning author (2016 Novel of Excellence for Science Fiction for ILLUSION from Author's Circle Awards) of the Amazon Bestselling novels, ILLUSION and IDENTITY. Her third book in the Eomix Galaxy Novel collection is COILED VENGEANCE.Christa has also moved into the world of detective fiction with her internationally bestselling novel, SPIDER'S TRUTH, the first in the Detective Trann series.Looking for something more YA? Try the Land of Iyah trilogy, starting with book 1: THE JADE CASTLE.Aside from her novels, Christa has also authored a graphic novel, HOLLOW, and 6-issue follow-up comic book series HOLLOW'S PRISM from Green-Eyed Unicorn Comics. (with illustrator Conrad Teves.)Originally from Milwaukee, WI, Christa was exposed to many different things through her education, including an elementary Spanish immersion program, a vocal/opera program in high school, and her eventual B.S. in Biology. Her love of entomology and marine biology helped while writing her science fiction/ fantasy aliens/creatures.As for why she writes, Christa had this to say: "I write because I have a story that needs to come out. I write because I can't NOT write. I write because I love creating something that pulls me out of my own world and lets me for a little while get lost inside someone or someplace else. And I write because I HAVE to know how the story ends."

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Ashlee never felt insane before. Today might have been the exception.

Three months had passed since her whole world changed. She’d been a sophomore at Monroe High School, excelling in most of her classes, except math, and had just started dating another sophomore, Bekk, who she’d had a crush on since the previous year.

Instead of partying with her friends to celebrate the end of another school year, she’d attended a funeral.

Bekk’s funeral.

The whole incident hadn’t made sense. Bekk died in his sleep. Natural causes everyone told her. How could a 16-year-old die naturally in his sleep?

Bekk’s older brother and legal guardian, Shon, hadn’t attended the funeral. Instead, he’d been submitted to a psych ward somewhere, after the police found him huddled over Bekk’s lifeless body in their apartment, ranting incoherently.

Ashlee couldn’t blame him. When she’d heard the news, she felt different—broken. Nothing felt right anymore.

But after the funeral, on her way home in the backseat of the car, she’d nodded off, and the dream she had made her question her sanity.

The image of a fairy, Yir, who she used to dream about as a young girl. The fairy came from a dream-land called Iyah, and told Ashlee that Bekk needed her help.

Ashlee never said a word about the dream to anyone. Not to her new friend Belle—who’d been best friends with Bekk before he died—nor to her parents, who were too wrapped up in their world of finance and business to listen to her anyway. For some reason, though, she didn’t want to tell anyone. It felt like such an odd dream, combining her recent loss with the childhood place she used to dream about, where she’d played for hours with her fairy friend, and felt safe. She didn’t like that Yir made the message seem urgent, letting her know Bekk was in trouble. Besides, bad things didn’t happen in Iyah. It existed as a place of escape. A place of fantasy.

Ashlee hadn’t dreamed about Iyah or the little fairy since the day of the funeral. She chalked it up to stress and grief. Part of her felt glad Yir hadn’t returned. She wasn’t sure if she could handle anything else that questioned her fragile stability.

But today, the first day of her junior year, instead of worrying about her outfit or if she remembered to charge her phone, she stood in front of her mirror and wondered if this was what it felt like to be insane.

This morning, she’d received a text message from Belle with two lines:

I just heard from Vic. His video game about Iyah got picked up by a gaming studio!

Ashlee’s hands trembled as she stared at the words on the screen.

How could she have failed to recall the fact that Belle and her boyfriend, Vic, had shown her artwork last schoolyear about Iyah, the very place she used to dream about? Why had she forgotten she’d recognized the pictures Vic had drawn?

And how could Vic have created a game about Iyah if it only existed in her dreams?

––––––––

An hour later, Ashlee sat in the back of the chauffeured car on the way to school, her head spinning. She’d never thought to ask Belle how Vic had artwork from Ashlee’s very own dreams. How could it be possible?

She wanted to question Belle about it now, but had no idea how to broach the subject. She hadn’t ever wanted to bring up Bekk, since Belle had been friends with him first, but she needed to in reference to Iyah. And yet, if she said anything at all, would Belle think her crazy, too? It was only a dream, after all—wasn’t it?

The car pulled up to the school and her driver, Milton, announced they’d arrived. With a quick adjustment, she fixed her green skirt so it no longer stuck to the back of her legs. They’d been having a heat wave and the normally cooler weather for the beginning of the schoolyear continued to refuse to show.

Thanks, Milton, Ashlee mumbled. With a quick grab, she got hold of her backpack, threw her long, blonde curls off her shoulders, and slid out of the car. Buses lined the curb ahead of them and students hustled out of the yellow monstrosities, buzzing with energy as they ran into old friends, or trudging along, dreading the first day of another school year.

Ashlee kept her eyes peeled for Belle as she walked up the stone stairs between the two lion statues on either side of the entrance to Monroe High. Belle had messaged that she’d be waiting by the doors, but she was often late, so Ashlee didn’t bank on her showing until the last minute. Worried about the ticking clock and hating to be tardy, Ashlee headed inside, figuring she’d see Belle later on in the day.

With purposeful steps she reached her homeroom, where the teacher handed out everyone’s classroom assignments. Ashlee’s schedule looked pretty normal, although she smiled when she noticed she’d gotten into the Driver’s Ed class she’d signed up for. Her parents wouldn’t let her apply last year, since she hadn’t turned 16 until almost the end of the semester, but this year, she desperately wanted to learn to drive. She hated being driven around by Milton. Her parents had recently come into money when her father’s business took off, and they loved spending it.

Ashlee missed the smaller house they lived in a year and a half ago. They now resided in an imposing structure on a lake. With its large balconies, huge windows, and perfectly matched pink peony flower bushes and window boxes, it reminded her of a vacation destination—a place to get away from your real life, but never a place to actually call home. She always felt like a visitor.

But after taking Driver’s Ed, she could get her license at the end of the semester, drive anywhere she wanted by herself, and feel a little bit like the regular girl she used to be.

The bell sounded its double chime, signaling the beginning of the day, and Ashlee made her way to her first class, Art History. She peered around the room for Belle, but no luck. She didn’t have this class with her. Hopefully they’d have at least some classes together this year. Ashlee didn’t want to think about going through the whole semester alone.

CHAPTER 2

The Jade King cried out in pain, his massive body shaking uncontrollably. Servants rushed to his aid, smearing handfuls of a heated resin substance across cracks in his skin. The wounds healed slowly and the Jade King took in deep breaths of cold air, his stone-resin sack-like lungs expanding and contracting, relishing in the numbing properties of the salve.

Enough, he snapped, the word clipped and crisp. The servants rocked from side to side, the traditional movement of subservience in the Jade Kingdom, before stepping back to blend into the walls. The creatures, called Jadari, had the ability to meld with jade stone. When not needed, each Jadari would melt into the wall, absorbed by it, yet somehow still whole. Several hundred lived inside the castle, always listening if called upon. In this way they could appear anywhere within moments, making excellent servants.

The Jade King straightened slowly, his stone back creaking with the strain. He’d been neglecting his daily waxing routine and his skin looked dull and scratched. Flexing his fingers, he noticed the stiffness of his joints. Being made of stone, joint issues could be a real concern without proper lubrication.

Too many hours in front of this arch, he thought. He took a few steps back from the archway, its entrance blacker than spilled ink across the Onyx Mountains. And yet, he could see, ever so small, a green dot in the exact center. This dot stretched through the void into another realm, the land of Iyah.

Each day, the Jade King spent time in his quarters extending part of himself through that breach, sending a vein of jade into Iyah. His hold on the fairy realm had been strong recently, and he’d been able to persuade someone on the other end to use their own energy to help keep the archway open. Once that happened, he needed very little energy from his side to send jade through the arch, slowly changing Iyah into jade. The more the Jade King turned Iyah into jade stone, the less energy he needed to keep the archway open. He believed once it became stable enough, he could cross through the void into the fairy realm.

Unfortunately, that individual disappeared, and the Jade King’s ties to Iyah vanished as well. Recently, he’d restarted the process, but the energy needed took its toll and he couldn’t hold the archway open for very long.

Fear itched its way across his skin. Time was running out. He’d been told by an oracle he must break through the archway by the end of three times his life age—he’d been one thousand years old at the time. The end of that time crept closer, and with it the possibility of fulfilling the prophecy: break through the archway, rule Iyah, and restore his kingdom to its former glory.

A young woman’s voice filled his quarters, her words holding the same clipped accent as his own, though much softer in tone. Dinner is ready, Father.

The Jade King sniffed the air. He could smell the sweet scents of magma and the spicy aroma of boiled quartz.

My favorite, he rumbled before turning around. What is the occasion, Jayla?

His daughter approached and took his large hands in her smaller ones. Her gaze danced briefly toward the arch, a touch of a frown flickering for an instant on her face. She was nearly full-grown, but still remained small in his eyes, as no one in his kingdom had ever reached his stature or build. Not even his own children.

Jayla smiled, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. You work too much, Father, if you have forgotten your own Metamorph Day.

The Jade King paused. Tension spiked in his shoulders. Could it be? This meant the prophecy needed to be fulfilled during this year of his lifespan. Has it already been another year? I have indeed lost track of the calendar. He tenderly brushed her face with his large fingers. A fierce wave of love and pride swept over him. Without you and your brother, I fear I would lose myself completely.

On that I agree with you, Father, she said, the smile now full and true.

They arrived at the dining hall, in which sat a long, onyx table, large enough to seat twenty. The table had been a gift from the Basalt people who lived on the Onyx Mountain’s edge, the border between the two domains. Two hundred years ago they’d signed a treaty of truce, and trade had once again begun. Though a good thing, the Jade King knew the new supplies of resin and building materials weren’t enough. His own people still suffered. They’d never fully recovered from the Gemstone Dominion war three thousand years ago. That was the year he’d met the oracle and she’d created the arch.

The year his family died and he became the Jade King.

No one but he knew the whole truth about the oracle and the prophecy. He’d never even told his wife and children everything. Somehow, by keeping the details to himself, he felt he kept down the expectations from others, and he wouldn’t feel as responsible if he failed to fulfill the prophecy.

The Jade King followed his daughter into the dining room. Three place settings lay at the closest end of the table, though none of the seats contained occupants. Jadari scurried to and fro, setting out steaming hot dishes and bowls. Tiny twinkling shards of quartz had been spread out around the Jade King’s place setting, no doubt by Jayla, to add decoration for his Metamorph Day.

Where is Jaydon? The Jade King sat at the head and Jayla took the chair on his right. She’d worn her hair up tonight, slivers of pale green and blue jade wrapped neatly on top of her head.

A forceful pang of grief surged through him for a moment. Jayla looked so much like her mother.

Returning from Pearl River, Jayla answered, picking up her grinding utensil. I heard from the guards that they spotted Jaydon an hour ago. He should be here shortly.

With a slow, profound inhale, the Jade King let the scents of his meal resonate for a moment. "Well, since it is my Metamorph Day, he will simply have to be late. I cannot wait." He grinned.

You won’t need to, Father. Jaydon strode in, slapping brown copper gloves against his thigh. Though not as tall as his sister, he stretched wide across his broad shoulders, an imposing figure, and nearly impossible to knock over when he sparred with the guards. But I promise, my delay will make your Metamorph Day all the sweeter.

The Jade King’s eyes lit up. You found something, Son?

Indeed, I did. He pulled a container from a pocket in his silver-lined cloak. The glass box contained a viscous fluid, which seemed to have a life of its own, moving independently of the young man’s motions.

The Jade King pushed away from the table, his hunger forgotten, staring at the prize his son held. He grasped the container carefully, lest he shatter it in his massive, stone hand, and held it up to the lava light. Jayla frowned in the background, though she couldn’t conceal the curiosity in her eyes.

You found it, the Jade King said. After all these weeks of searching.

Yes, father. Happy Metamorph Day.

The Jade King’s face split open with a large smile. No more delays. I will tolerate the pain. We break through, today.

CHAPTER 3

Bekk Nakos, ruler of the throne of Iyah, the land of dreams, King of Yar Castle, with access to an infinite number of worlds, sighed with boredom.

One month had passed since he’d given up his own life to save the fairy folk here from the castle’s previous tyrant. Bekk now existed on the planet Iyah, lived in Yar Castle in the kingdom of Yar, could literally travel to any world he wanted to, except for the only one he desired: Earth.

Bekk stared out at the Eclipse Sea, whose purplish-blue waves pulsed under the green sun. Tiny whitecaps, no bigger than his fist, popped up and curled, exposing a moment of lavender foam. With his butt wedged into the pure white sand and his back pressed against a fallen, golden doh-iyah tree, he found himself once again thinking about his friends, Belle and Vic, his girlfriend, Ashlee, and his brother, Shon. He wondered what they were doing in their own lives, and how much time had passed. Time in Iyah moved differently than on Earth. This four weeks for him could have been four days for them. Or four years. Maybe they all were grown and had families and husbands and. . .

What’s the point of thinking of them? I’ll never see any of them again. Bekk picked up a chunk of driftwood and tossed it toward the water. A rust-colored tentacle lazily climbed out of the water and grabbed the item, bringing it gently under the waves.

Before a month ago, something like this would have made Bekk stop in shock, but now? Nothing seemed to surprise him anymore. Not the Sugar Mines of southern Yar or the towering firefalls off Firefall Mountain. It felt like his chest had a vacant spot, which used to be filled with surprises and joy, but now, only emptiness remained.

His friend, Ryf, a golden fairy and princess to the Kingdom of Yar, tried in vain to cheer him up, but even she couldn’t help. How could she? Bekk could never go home. He was the only human on this whole world. And now she’d gone off, searching for her missing fairy friend, Yir, and Bekk felt truly alone.

Sometimes Bekk wished he’d never decided to stay on Iyah, but then the pain of what his brother had done reminded him of his reason for remaining here...

Bekk rubbed his head. He didn’t want to think about Shon. He still couldn’t believe what his brother had been doing, murdering fairies and using their life force to enter other worlds. Shon claimed he only wanted to bring his and Bekk’s parents back from the dead, that he’d seen them inside a strange archway after their fatal car accident the previous year. All he was doing, Shon reasoned, was killing fairies, who he insisted were wasting their lives and immortality with fruitless games. He’d never been able to produce proof, though, that his plan to revive their parents would work.

When Bekk met his brother in Iyah and learned the truth, he had a decision to make. If he woke up on Earth and left Iyah, which he could only reach while dreaming, Shon would continue his tirade, murder countless other fairies, and keep Bekk from coming back.

So Bekk had to make a choice—he decided to give up his mortal body and used that life energy to keep Shon from ever returning to Iyah.

Since then, Bekk tried to adjust to this new place. He didn’t have to eat or sleep. He didn’t even have to use the bathroom. Everything felt surreal, like he still existed in a dream, except he would never wake up. Being surrounded by thankful fairies reinforced that he would have made the same choice again, but it didn’t make him any less lonely.

Ryf suggested he try to visit other worlds, thinking maybe he’d meet someone there to befriend, but fear kept Bekk at bay. He worried that if he left Iyah,