Brenda swiped at her tears with a sharp motion, fighting back the sob that threatened to break free, while Sean kept his eyes locked on the horizon, unable to convince himself it was really over.
“We can’t just leave her here,” Brenda whispered, her voice cracked with grief. “We have to… do something.”
Sean nodded, but words died in his throat. He leaned over Evelyn, taking her icy hand in his own as if he could will some final warmth into her. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “We never should’ve pushed this far.”
And then, in that very instant, while the wind carried what felt like the faint sigh of a prayer, the impossible happened.
A gasp.
Weak, almost imperceptible. But real.
Sean and Brenda went rigid, their eyes snapping wide at the same time.
“You heard that?” Brenda whispered, her heart in her throat.
Before Sean could answer, Evelyn coughed, a deep, guttural sound that seemed to shake the very air around them. Water burst from her lungs as her body convulsed in a desperate, primal fight for life.
“Evelyn!” Sean cried, dropping to his knees beside her.
Brenda scrambled forward, her hands trembling as she lifted Evelyn’s head. “Evelyn, please… open your eyes!”
And as if answering the call, she did. Slowly, with effort, her gaze blurred but undeniably alive. Moonlight, breaking through the fading mist, caressed her face, wrapping her in an almost otherworldly glow.
“Sean... Brenda...” she whispered, her voice raw and broken, yet unmistakably hers.
“Evelyn! You’re back!” Sean exclaimed, his hands clutching hers like he needed proof she was real.
Brenda broke down, sobs shaking her as she pulled Evelyn into a fierce embrace, as if sheer force could shield her from every harm.
“We thought we’d lost you forever,” she choked out between tears.
Evelyn managed a faint smile. “I remember… the storm… I fought… I don’t know how, but I’m still here,” she murmured, slowly squeezing Brenda’s hand.
The relief, the joy, it was almost painful, like fate itself was toying with them, granting a miracle no one could have expected. The mist had rolled back, and the moon blazed high, wrapping them in a light that felt almost enchanted.
And yet, something in the air still lingered. A whisper of warning.
As Sean and Brenda helped her sit up, something even more extraordinary pulled their gaze. When they lifted their eyes, they froze.
There it was.
Island of the Moon, bathed in silver light, rose from the darkness like a dream given flesh. Its jagged cliffs and lush forests radiated an almost magnetic allure, too vivid to deny.
“Look…” Brenda breathed, pointing toward the horizon.
Sean’s chest tightened as he drew in a sharp breath. “It’s real… the island actually exists.”
Evelyn, weak but with a strange new fire burning in her eyes, followed their gaze. “We made it,” she whispered, as if that place held every answer they’d been searching for.
The three of them fell into an embrace, bound by a tie no storm, no death, could sever. And yet, their journey was far from over.
It was only the beginning.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
After tending to Evelyn and giving her time to recover, the three of them climbed up from the beach toward the island’s crest, a corner of nature wrapped in mystery. With every step, it felt as though time itself slipped further away, as if reality were thinning at the edges.
At the top, they found themselves staring into a valley dotted with ancient stone dwellings: the remnants of a forgotten village. The ruins, cloaked in moss and tangled with gnarled roots, seemed to whisper tales of a distant past, while the wind carried faint echoes of voices long gone.
They pressed forward, following the path marked on the map, guided by the compass in Sean’s hand. It pulsed faintly, almost alive, as though it knew the destination before they did.
They crossed into a dense forest where moonlight pierced the canopy in shards, sketching shifting patterns of light and shadow across the ground. Brenda, her unease sharpening with every step, finally broke the silence.
“I’m almost sure we’ve already faced one of the three trials… back on the crossing. I honestly thought I was going to drown.”
Evelyn and Sean exchanged a wary glance. The prophecy had been clear: the trials were meant to begin here, on the island. But they chose not to argue with her.
“Don’t worry,” Evelyn said, resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder with a soft smile. “We’re in this together. Whatever happens, we’ll face it as a team.”
Brenda leaned in to check her wound.
“Let me take a look. I just want to make sure it’s not bleeding again.”
“I’m fine, really!” Evelyn insisted, giving her arm a warm squeeze. “Your bandage is perfect. Come on, let’s keep moving.”
They pushed forward, focused, correcting their course more than once. Hours later, they stopped short in front of a cave—dark, menacing, impossible to ignore. They exchanged uneasy looks. Every choice felt like a riddle.
The cave yawned open in the rock like a black mouth. The damp walls seemed to breathe, and from deep inside drifted a cold draft, heavy with the scent of mold and iron.
“Let me see the map again,” Sean said, eyes narrowing at the entrance. “Maybe we can find another way around.”
Brenda bent over the parchment.
“I don’t think we’re allowed to stray. The prophecy’s clear: we have to follow the marked path.”
Evelyn nodded, her gaze locked on the darkness ahead.
“She’s right. The cave is part of our destiny.”
Sean took the first step. Brenda and Evelyn followed close behind.
With every stride, the tension mounted. Their torches flickered, casting twisted shadows across the carved walls— animals and human figures that seemed to stir as they passed, stone eyes tracking their every move.
Each breath was a fragile whisper, each footstep an echo on the slick stone. A drop of water fell from above, striking the ground with a sudden crack. A loose pebble skittered across the floor, its sharp rattle making them all flinch.
The line between reality and illusion thinned. Even the air itself felt like it was holding its breath as they drew closer to the trial they feared.
The roar of an underground waterfall grew louder, swelling into an irresistible call. They squeezed through a narrow passage and emerged into a vast, glowing chamber, where the full moon poured through a jagged split in the rock.
Before them lay a crystal-clear pool, fed by a rushing cascade. The path forward continued… beyond that shimmering curtain of water.
Sean stepped closer, lifting the map and carefully comparing its markings to the world around them.
“Evelyn, look! There’s an underwater passage here. It should lead to the other side.”
Brenda went pale, a shiver of terror running down her spine.
“Underwater?” she asked, her voice cracking with panic.
“Looks like it,” Evelyn confirmed, eyes fixed on the waterfall. “The entrance is hidden behind the curtain of water.”
Brenda dropped her gaze, frozen by the thought of diving in. Her heart pounded so hard it hurt.
“I can’t do it. Not after the storm… I just can’t.”
“Brenda,” Evelyn said softly, “we’re a team. We won’t leave you behind.”
“But I’ll only slow you down. You two go. I’ll wait here.”
Sean and Evelyn both tried to reason with her. Their words were gentle but unyielding.
“We’ve come this far together,” Sean insisted, “and we’re finishing this together.”
Brenda held back tears and gave a shaky nod, though fear still burned in her eyes.
Evelyn, realizing there was no other way, made her choice.
“I’ll go first. If I find a safe passage, I’ll come right back for you.”
She tied the rope firmly around her waist, handing the other end to Sean. Then, after one last deep breath, she dove into the icy water.
She kept one hand on the rocky wall, searching for any landmark, until a massive boulder loomed ahead like a beacon in the shadows. Then the passage blurred, fading into darkness. Panic clawed at her chest, she was alone, swallowed by the deep, time stretching endlessly around her. Her lungs burned, arms shook, every second a brutal fight against the freezing water pressing in, threatening to pull her under.
Just when she thought she couldn’t hold on any longer, a crack of light shimmered above. The current surged, carrying her upward.
Evelyn broke the surface in a violent gasp, choking on air and moonlight. She dragged herself onto the bank of a hidden pool, collapsing in exhaustion.
“I made it… but how the hell am I supposed to get Brenda through this?”
She lay still for a few minutes, savoring the fresh air, her chest heaving as life slowly returned to her. Then, with sheer will, she staggered to her feet, spotted a sturdy tree, and secured the rope tight around its trunk. She had to go back.
“For them… for Leyla” she said, before diving into the black water once more.
This time, she swam with purpose. When she finally surfaced back inside the cavern, Sean and Brenda were there, she was trembling violently, eyes shut tight, clinging to Sean as if his warmth was the only thing keeping her tethered to reality.
Evelyn watched them for a long moment, then gave a small, sorrowful nod to herself.
I was the one who pushed for this journey. I’m the one who dragged them into danger. And yet… without them, I never would’ve made it this far.
revising. Behind every chapter I publish for free, there is invisible work: hours spent polishing dialogue, weighing every word, and reconstructing every scene so the atmosphere is exactly as I imagined it. I’m not satisfied with just delivering a story: I want you to experience it with all your senses.
Bringing value to this commitment is some important news: Edenlost is among the three finalists for the Gerundio Fantasy literary award. A milestone that confirms the solidity of the world I am building, but the biggest surprise is yet to come.
Saturday, March 14th at 3:00 PM, in the splendid setting of the Visconti Castle in Pandino (CR), Italy, the official award ceremony will take place. It is there that I will find out which step of the podium belongs to this story. It will be an emotional moment, and I would be truly happy to personally greet anyone who wants to come and meet me to chat about Leyla and the secrets of Edenlost.
Volume 2, I will continue to share the chapters of the first volume with you every week. If this story is moving you, the greatest gift you can give me is to leave a review or star rating on Goodreads: it only takes a minute to help Edenlost find its way.
How to do it:
- Go to Goodreads (you can log in instantly with your Amazon, Google, Apple, or Facebook account).
- Search for "Edenlost" in the search bar.
- Leave your star rating and, if you like, a brief review.