Amorphous Ties

By Antonio Roberts

Being on the run isn't easy…especially when your daughter is a secret.

 

Dylan, an outcast in a desert bazaar, searches desperately for work. Sick with a terminal illness, he needs money to support his family, but sand rushes through the hourglass as the caravans depart at sunset. Meanwhile, his adopted daughter Darla—a secret psionic squid—is growing bored with dull, dusty city life. She seeks adventure, make-believe, and plotting global domination—all before kindergarten. 

 

But Dylan is determined to find them a better home, follow his dreams as a haberdasher, and settle down for their safety. Which would all be a lot easier if stubbornness didn't run in the family. 

Can they work together to start a better life? Or will their lucky stars have other plans?

 

Amorphous Tides is a fantasy novella about family, magic, and dreams, which begs the question, 'how far will love go?'

Pick up a copy and dive into a fantasy young adult adventure today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Antonio Roberts
• Release date: Oct 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9781958664001

Book preview

AMORPHOUS TIDES

Darla’s host had swapped bodies three times before the age of thirty, and that wasn’t the worst part.

Her host, dubbed Dylan Wexwood—not by birth—dressed as an unassuming businessman with a thick beard, rich dark skin, and stunning brown irises. At least Darla thought they were stunning. She, much like he, had grown to adore make-believe, pretending to be somebody else. The idea enraptured her—this metamorphosis, this unraveling of skin and peeling of flesh to uncover the burgundy pulp inside. After all, it was the heart that truly mattered. Darla desired—no, needed—a change. She must have it.

It had been too long since their last swap. Like any relationship, theirs required work. Between feeding a premature eldritch kindergartener and dodging assassins as an undead outlaw, breathing and safety proved a luxury. That’s where swaps came in.

During a swap, Dylan parted ways with one body, breathing his living soul into a dead corpse, and Darla scurrying her teensy pink suckers into a new skull for her to grow. Not only did Darla exchange bodies, but Dylan as well through her dark powers.

Of course, they never took a life. Darla knew better. The last accident had ended her in a four-day time-out, and Darla couldn’t bear the silent treatment.

Darla drummed her stubby suckers. She hated to consider the toll her magic took on her host. But he’d never leave her. It baffled her. Why? And were they finding bodies more frequently now? At least the city catered to one of their needs.

In Narcopolis, the city of the dead, nothing ever went to waste if one knew where to look or greased a palm in silver. Everyone had to take risks once in a while according to Dylan.

Body transfers or swapping proved only another leg up in survival, especially in a city of assassins and violence. With a price on their heads and health, their last swap had been pivotal.

Darla wondered, how long had it been?

Truthfully, neither of them could remember when exactly it had happened. Memories crinkled easily between transfers, cheap tissue paper things. It was a wonder that bodies held together at all, exerting one slimy, wet soul into a