The Sola Quest

By Zoe Wynns

Sixteen-year-old Remi is a part of the Civil Sola, a hidden society which practices nature magic. She is assigned a coming-of-age quest to retrieve the lost magical Jewel of Love, and sets out on the quest with her friends. But along the way, she soon realizes the quest is much more personal than she expected. Questions arise about her "half-breed" societal status, her unusual entrance into the Civil Sola, her family, and what this Jewel means for their society as a whole. Remi must fight to protect her friends and herself, navigate a confusing romance, and draw the line between the magical society that she's come to call home and the world of humans which she still feels a part of.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zoe Wynns
• Release date: Jan 22, 2024
• ISBN: 9798215457467

Zoe Wynns

UNC student who occasionally writes novels.Thanks to everyone who's checked out my work! You can contact me at [e-mail] for any inquiries.

Book preview

The

Sola Quest

Zoe Wynns

Hi! I’m Zoe Wynns. The Sola Quest is my tenth (woo-hoo!) self-published book. I’m twenty years old and I’m currently studying Creative Writing, Music, and Screenwriting at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I’ve been writing novels for nine years now. It’s been a crazy journey, from a Minecraft fanfiction published at age eleven, to the full-length YA fantasy you’re reading right now.

If you enjoy the book, a rating and review really helps me out as an independent self-published author. I’d love to hear what you thought about the book, any errors you found, etc. as well! Shoot me an email at [e-mail] if you want to chat.

Feel free to also check out my other books, including the SpyCam series; The Unfortunates; Awaken Illusionia; Flicker, Fade, Soar; and the aforementioned Minecraft fanfiction, Journey to the End. :)

I hope you enjoy The Sola Quest!

This is a work of fiction. While some businesses and places do exist that I’ve mentioned, any interactions inside those places or any descriptions of those places are purely fictional. All persons are fictional, and any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

This book is published by Smashwords. No part of this book may be copied or reproduced without the consent of Zoe Wynns. All questions to [e-mail].

Summary: Sixteen-year-old Remi must complete her coming-of-age quest to become a full member of her magical society, but she soon realizes there’s more to her quest than she expects.

Smashwords Edition License Notes:

Thank you for downloading this eBook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

Copyright © 2024 Zoe Wynns.

Prologue

They’re sending the half-breed on the quest for the Jewel, my Lord, spoke a voice in the darkness.

A deeper, more sinister voice gave a low, long chuckle. "The half-breed. Of course the world would conspire against me and choose her for this quest."

The first voice spoke up after a moment, taking steps towards the second. She… she’s very good with magic.

"Why are you so afraid? the second voice said in a long, confident drawl. Have you ever met someone even half as good as magic as me, my servant? The voice stopped abruptly and gave a dark laugh. Ah. Half. It’s like the world is taunting me with this… this excuse for a Civila."

Don’t worry about her, my lord, the first voice reassured. She will be easily dealt with, along with whichever of her incompetent peers she brings on the quest with her.

I know she will, the second voice muttered. A flick, and suddenly the room was flooded with light and the two voices became visible as people. Two men, standing across the room from each other. The room was long but not tall, and the ceiling seemed to cave in towards the men on the corners. There were shelves along the sides of the room, packed with potion ingredients of all shapes and sizes. Leaves of every kind, dried flowers, and bottles of every color of liquid known to man, shining, shimmering, and bubbling.

The plan will be executed after they reach the Plains of Athelan. They’ll lead us right to the Jewel, and then…

The taller man, the one clearly in control, gave a sinister smile.

And then they will be mine.

Chapter One

For once, Remi felt ready for something.

A straightforward quest, compared to some of those of your peers, her instructor said, smiling at her. She’d always been Instructor Pine’s favorite. She kept her head down, did her work and did it well, and stayed after class to chat and pet Pine’s fire frog, who wasn’t a big fan of being pet and would often scorch the desk in dissatisfaction.

You will return the missing ancient artifact, the Jewel of Love, from its place in the Farther Caves of Galden, to us. Nobody is quite sure where in the caves it is, however, we have no reason to believe it is being guarded or hidden. It has simply been lost to time.

Straightforward. Thank god. Remi hid a slight smile with her hands, intertwining her fingers in front of her upturned lips. She knew she shouldn’t be excited about a quick, one-and-done quest—her entire education had been leading up to this moment. But being away from the Civil Sola and her life for up to two years, as some of her unlucky friends had been, didn’t sound like her idea of fun.

If you have not found the Jewel in three months, you have the option to return home, Instructor Pine said, giving Remi a pointed glance. Returning home without the Jewel would be admitting failure, admitting that her entire education was for nothing. She would have no career prospects upon return. She’d be lucky to even get a job sweeping the floors in the local apothecary. Failed quester was the worst curse that could be placed upon one’s tongue, whispered in the streets as she walked by. It was not an option. Not now, not ever.

As you know, on quests of this nature, fewer companions are required than for longer missions. You may bring three traveling partners, none of which must have their own graduation and quest scheduled for less than one year in the future.

Remi’s best friend Shana gave her the side eye from her front-row seat in the crowd. Shana was seated between her mother and her brother, Joshua, who was also making an exaggerated, frantic, wide-eyed gaze in her direction. Remi stifled a grin and rolled her eyes at the two of them. They already knew they’d both be coming, she just needed to quickly decide her third person.

Her eyes wandered to her own mother in the second row. As she knew they would be, tears were already springing up in her mother’s eyes. C’mon, mom, it’s a straightforward quest! An easy one, no risk! Remi tried to communicate to her with her eyes. Don’t cry.

Thank god she was an only child, at least. She knew if she had a sibling, they would be begging to come with her, and she couldn’t put them at risk. One risky quest per family was enough, in her opinion. Shana had already started to warn Joshua that if she got a hard quest he wouldn’t be allowed to come with her, and Joshua had been firmly refusing to believe it.

Remi, who will be your three traveling companions? Instructor Pine asked, with a warm smile.

Remi turned and faced the crowd. It was a warm, sunny day, and she had to squint to see everyone at the ceremony clearly through the sunny yellow haze in her vision. The guests were sitting in brown chairs made out of cherry wood from the south side of Sima Forest, with beautiful natural decorations of berries, fruits, and wildflowers. She was glad she’d decided to keep her ceremony small and simple—only about twenty people were in the audience, including her mother, best friend Shana and her family, and a few other friends from school who begged her to come to prepare for what their own questing ceremonies would be like.

Even though this decision had been made when they had both barely learned about what a quest was—that Shana would be one of Remi’s traveling partners, and Remi would be one of Shana’s—she still felt a twinge of uneasiness as her dark brown eyes locked onto Shana’s sparkling blue ones. What if something went wrong, and Shana didn’t return home, and it was her fault?

But still, she couldn’t imagine being away from home for three months with anyone but her soulmate, her best friend, truly, her non-biological sister. So with a smile, she cleared her throat and said, My first traveling companion will be Shana Sun.

YES! Shana bellowed, jumping up from her chair. Everyone in the crowd turned to look at her, and her mother, Ms. Sun, put her head in her hands, half disapproving, half laughing.

Shana raced up the stairs to where Instructor Pine and Remi were standing and wrapped her in a huge hug. You dummy, you made me nervous when you were staring me down like that, she whispered, lightly punching Remi in the arm. Thought you were gonna go back on our promise.

I would never, Remi said with a smile, grabbing Shana’s hand and squeezing it as they pulled away from each other.

Remi looked at the crowd again. Joshua’s eyes had gotten so big Remi thought they might pop out of their head. Quick, tell my brother he’s coming, before he has an aneurysm, Shana mumbled with a grin.

My next companion will be Joshua Sun.

Joshua’s eyes snapped back to their normal size, and he rose from his seat slowly, taking long, dignified steps towards the podium. Look at him trying to pretend he wasn’t about to piss his pants thirty seconds ago, Remi whispered to Shana.

Joshua joined them on the podium, standing a foot away from Remi on her right, arms straight and stiff by his sides.

Oh, you idiot, get over here, Shana said, grabbing her brother and pulling him into a group hug with her and Remi, the three of them laughing and jumping with excitement.

They pulled away and Remi surveyed the audience once more. She was originally planning on taking her mentor Ura on the quest with her, but Ura had been unwell for two months now and there was no telling when she’d be better, so Remi needed to choose a replacement. Unfortunately, she’d really had no time to think about the third person, as she was expecting a bigger quest with a traveling party of five or more where she would just have to pick anyone willing to go. Now, there was pressure. Three slots was small. Who was the third most important person to her, within the ranges of the traveling companion guidelines?

She let her eyes travel over her schoolmates in the crowd, landing on one of her other friends, Del. She probably should pick him, but he was liable to actually undo any possible progress they made on the quest. He didn’t have a focused or serious bone in his body. But he was staring at them right now, blinking rapidly, smiling with no teeth. Remi knew he assumed he’d be on the quest if it was a bigger party but she never made any promises to him about if it was smaller.

She had no choice, did she? She didn’t have many other friends. Plus, maybe Del could be helpful. He’d already done his own quest, and though it took him double the expected time, he got it done. He’d have tips and tricks, she was sure. My third traveling companion will be Del Starlight.

Del jumped up and sprinted towards the stage, almost knocking over an empty chair as he raced down the aisle and up the stairs. Good choice, Rem, he said, gently pulling on the ends of her hair.

Remi yanked her hair back from his grasp and elbowed his side. Yeah, yeah. You better be helpful.

Everyone, please wish Remi Creek, Shana Sun, Joshua Sun, and Del Starlight many blessings on their quest and hope for a safe return with the Jewel of Love, Instructor Pine said, eyes sparkling with pride as he looked down at Remi.

The crowd applauded loudly, her mother standing up in her seat and cheering the loudest of all. Remi’s eyes watered with emotion as she leaned into Shana and took in the audience. She couldn’t believe this day was actually here. She was finally going on her quest.

As the crowd started to disperse, Remi gave a grateful wave to Instructor Pine and then turned to her fellow questers. So. Jewel of Love. Doesn’t sound too bad, right?

Easy quest! Del punched the air and grinned. We’ll be back by next month, jewel in hand.

Yeah, yeah, mister ‘easy-quest’, Shana said with a snort. Your quest was supposed to take six months, remember? Not a year!

Hey, I came back with the person Head Moon needed, did I not? Del said, putting his hands on his hips jauntily. Not everyone gets to have the leader of the entire Civil Sola at their questing ceremony.

Joshua looked up at me, his face scrunched with worry. Will we really be back by next month, you think?

I ruffled his hair. I can’t promise next month, but I’m sure we can do it in the three-month time period that Pine assigned. That’s not too long, is it?

My fourteenth birthday is in two months, that’s why I asked, Joshua said quietly, and I wanted to spend it with my mom.

I exchanged a knowing glance with Shana. We’ll try to be back by then, okay?

Joshua nodded with a slight smile.

You’re lucky your birthday’s really early for a Sixth Year, most of your friends are already fifteen and ineligible for the quest, Del said to Shana. I remember my sixteenth birthday was eleven months before my best friend’s quest. Eleven months! So I couldn’t go. Maddening.

"I really got lucky. My fifteenth birthday was last week, which means technically I’m less than a year away from my own quest, but Instructor Pine made an exception because he loves Remi," Shana said with a grin.

"He doesn’t love me," Remi protested, face heating up.

Yes he does, you’re his favorite and everyone knows it! Del teased, elbowing Remi in the ribs.

She grabbed his arm and pinched it. Ow! he screeched, shaking it in pain. Damn, if she’s gonna be this violent on the quest, I’m not going!

Be my guest, Remi said with a sly smile. I’ll pick someone with half a brain instead.

Kids, kids! Shana rolled her eyes. Behave.

As Del snapped something back to Shana, Remi looked over at Joshua. You’re very quiet, she said.

Yeah, just a little nervous, I guess, Joshua answered, looking at the ground.

The last time Joshua had been like this, it was the day before his Fifth Year in school. He already wasn’t the most talkative kid, but that day she couldn’t get a word out of him. Shana had already run in to deal with some crisis in one of the billion student organizations she led, and left him and Remi alone. Joshua had stood silently, stone-still outside the building until they were both fifteen minutes late for their first class. After multiple jokes and attempts to make him laugh and loosen up a little, she raised her eyebrows at him. Joshua. I swear to god, if you don’t get your ass moving towards this building right this second, I’m going to drag you in holding your hand. You do not want your sister’s best friend to be seen holding your hand on the first day of your second to last year of school.

After a moment of silence, Joshua had exhaled a laugh and shaken himself a little. I know. I know. I just… don’t feel ready.

Hey, well, I’m just taking supplemental classes for my quest, nothing required. I’ve already graduated. How about I sit in your first class with you? You have Instructor Daisy, right? I loved her. You’ll love her too, Remi had said, nudging him.

He had smiled slightly.