SAMPLE-ADB: https://tantor-site-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/mp3-samples/P4775_NowhereStars.mp3 ----------------------------------------------------------- COVER-ADB: https://files.catbox.moe/5ye2qq.jpg _________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------- _________________________________ Nowhere Stars: Volume 1 By: Anemone Narrated by: Caitlin Kelly Series: Nowhere Stars, Book 1 Length: 9 hrs and 1 min Unabridged Audiobook Release date: 05-21-24 Language: English Publisher: Tantor Audio 4.5 out of 5 stars4.5 (4 ratings) Publisher's summary Liadain never dreamed of being a hero. Trapped in a failing body, she's learned to expect nothing from life except pain and disappointment. She knows better than to hope for a miracle. When an unexpected savior offers her the power to become a Keeper, she's torn between the allure of survival and the fear that she's just trading one pain-filled existence for another. To Liadain's horror, becoming a Keeper doesn't cure her illness—it turns it into a weapon, one that will inevitably end her. Only by hunting fearsome Harbingers that feed on dreams, desires, and souls can she outpace her own deadly magic. The Harbingers feed on pain . . . but her hunger may be even greater. ©2023 Anemone (P)2024 Tantor Unabridged Audiobook Categories: Literature & Fiction Psychological Fantasy ----------------------------------------------------------- Read By: Caitlin Kelly Publisher: Tantor Audio Listen Time: 9.00 hours at 1.0x Speed 6.00 hours at 1.5x Speed 4.50 hours at 2.0x Speed Release Date: May 2024 Format: Unabridged Audiobook ISBN: 9798855516906 Quick Stats About this Audiobook Total Audiobook Chapters: 14 Longest Chapter Length: 52:22 minutes Shortest Chapter Length: 28:26 minutes Average Chapter Length: 38:36 minutes Audiobooks by this Author: 3 ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- _________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------- _________________________________ Liadain will consume as many monsters as it takes to secure her eternity. Born with a terminal illness, Liadain's sole wish is to live forever. Instead, shortly after her thirteenth birthday, fate confines her to hospice care. She only has one hope for salvation. A select number of children are chosen to become Keepers. In exchange for powerful magic, they must fend off Harbingers—fearsome entities that feed on dreams, desires, and souls. By vanquishing enough Harbingers, Keepers can transcend their human limitations. To become a Keeper is a pipe dream. That is, until a fateful night brings Liadain face to face with a monster more menacing than death itself. An unexpected savior presents her with a choice. Her decision sets her on the path of violence. As she tears salvation from the hearts of monsters, she can't help but wonder— is their hunger really so different from her own? ------ Nowhere Stars Magic needs darkness as stars need night. About Volume 1 of the story, covering arcs 1-2, is now available here, and here in audio form. Volume 2, covering arcs 3-4, is available here and here in audio form. Liadain, a girl born terminally ill, has only ever wanted to live — forever, if at all possible. Instead, shortly after her thirteenth birthday, she’s consigned to spend her last months in hospice care. Until the night she encounters a monster more terrifying than death, and her savior offers her a chance to achieve her impossible dream. A chance to become a Keeper, one of the chosen children whose magic serves as humanity’s sole defense against Harbingers, living nightmares that devour dreams and passions and souls. Few Keepers accept the mantle simply to be heroes, though. Those who consume enough Harbingers grow into something more than human, obtaining the power to change themselves in nearly any way they wish. So Liadain throws herself into a new life, hoping against hope to save herself. But magic is foremost an expression of the soul. Shaped by her cold bitterness, her new power grants her dominion over sickness, death, and ill-fate, forcing her to wield the things she hates most as weapons. And as she delves ever deeper into the minds of Harbingers, tearing fragments of her salvation from their hearts, Liadain can’t help but wonder if their hunger is really so different from her own. ~~~ Nowhere Stars is an ongoing fantasy-horror web novel about traumacore magical girls, nightmares clothed in ribbons and lace, alienation from reality, and broken children twisting the world into whatever shape they must to make their dreams come true. Please be aware that my writing trends quite dark and disturbing. If you’re looking for content warnings, click here for a list that should be considered to apply to the story as a whole. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy it. ♥ If you’d prefer to read through Royal Road or Scribblehub, Nowhere Stars is mirrored on both of those sites. Updates will be posted there at the same time. ~~~ Table of Contents phase 1: what grows in the seedbed of sorrow Death Inverted Death Inverted 1-1 Death Inverted 1-2 phase 2: the destination of all prayers The Hanged Man The Hanged Man 5-1 The Hanged Man 5-2 I Don’t Think I’m A Good Person I Don’t Think I’m A Good Person 7-1 I Don’t Think I’m A Good Person 7-2 I Don’t Think I’m A Good Person 7-3 I Don’t Think I’m A Good Person 7-4 I Don’t Think I’m A Good Person 7-5 I Don’t Think I’m A Good Person 7-6 I Don’t Think I’m A Good Person 7-7 I Don’t Think I’m A Good Person 7-8 Our Callings Our Callings 8-1 Our Callings 8-2 Our Callings 8-3 Nothing Hurts Nothing Hurts 9-1 Nothing Hurts 9-2 Nothing Hurts 9-3 Nothing Hurts 9-4 Nothing Hurts 9-5 The Tower The Tower 10-1 The Tower 10-2 Cast This page contains unmarked spoilers through the end of Phase 1, and will be updated with new characters at the end of Phase 2. It’s meant as a reference for readers who’ve lost track of existing characters and want a quick reminder of who they are and where they were introduced. For characters who’ve yet to appear on-screen, or who were mentioned long before they were introduced, this list will include the chapters that first discussed them and note their first proper appearance. Keepers Liadain Shiel, Ill Wind (1-1): A 13-year old girl born with a terminal autoimmune condition which sentenced her to live her short life in hospital rooms, almost entirely cut off from the world. She spent her days reading, studying the occult, and practicing tarot without believing that it has any real divinatory power, until magic stormed into her life and brought with it her chance to become a Keeper. Now, she’s thrown herself into chasing Emergence and the promise of growth it brings, hoping against hope to change her fate while she still can. Screaming Hymn Shona Tiernan (1-7): A former child actress who eagerly left that chapter of her life behind when she was offered the Promise. As a Keeper, Shona styles herself as a punk-rock idol, playing an electric violin that channels her pent-up rage into lightning storms and static enchantments. Mide Lachlan (1-7): A tomboyish girl with a passion for historical weaponry and martial arts. She made the Promise at the same time as Shona, following her into the world of magic, and her rather understated powers simply allow her to summon weapons and fight with preternatural skill. Aisling Waite, Truth’s Lantern (2-7): A self-proclaimed “research Keeper” who avoids combat in favor of studying the baffling complexities of magic, conducting occult experiments on her own powers. Since the wider world discovered her ability to ask the world almost any question and receive an accurate answer, her personal interests have often been buried beneath a long, long list of questions sorted by the existential risk of leaving them unanswered. Silver King Irida (mentioned 1-4): The most popular Keeper in New Claris. A shogi expert whose magic involves a literal shogi board she uses to summon and direct conjured soldiers. Stardust Seraph Roland (mentioned 3-4, appears Epilogue 1): An astonishingly handsome Keeper idol competing with Irida for the title of New Claris’s Favorite Keeper. After catching Liadain’s trail at the scene of Aulunla’s death, he’s taken some distant interest in her. Frozen Sun Iona Fianata (mentioned 1-2 and 3-1): The eldest Keeper and patron protector of the city of New Claris. The Fianatas have become widely known as the city’s “Keeper family,” owing to Iona’s practice of adopting Keepers with no families of their own or ones they no longer wish to be a part of. Tetha Fianata, the Sea’s Sanctuary (4-3): A young, idealistic, and over-eager Keeper doing her best to live up to her family name. Niavh Fianata (mentioned, 3-1, appears 4-2): Early in her life as a Keeper, Niavh lost control of her magic and killed several people. She’s recovered and rehabilitated herself, at least in the eyes of the magical community, and now offers herself as a mentor to Keepers whose powers present similar difficulties. Tara Mullane, the Flower’s Fangs (mentioned 3-1): A renegade Keeper who disappeared in mysterious circumstances. She was Liadain’s favorite Keeper, before the news broke about her habit of turning her magic on other people, even other Keepers. Had some unpleasant history with Irida, which the Silver King refuses to speak about to this day. Mary Hyland, Carves the Night (3-1): A low-profile Keeper simply said to have “turned over a new leaf” after a series of violent incidents in Ashcreek Home for Children, the orphanage where she grew up. Harbingers Yurfaln//Truth Is Written In Scars (1-5): Liadain’s first Harbinger. Yurfaln was born in her hospice ward and took its shape from the dying thoughts of Mr. Enfield, a man who found comfort in the idea that his illness had inspired him to make the most of what time he had left. Following his example, Yurfaln decided to carry the enlightenment of slow, painful death to the world beyond the hospital walls. Irakkia//The World Is Not The World (2-4): A wandering Harbinger which sought to share its perspective on the falseness of everyone and everything else with as many people as possible, with predictable effects on its human victims. Vianzia//There Can Still Be Something Beautiful (3-2): The most intelligent and communicative of the Harbingers Liadain encounters on her ill-fated excursion into the forests around New Claris. Vianzia inhabits an eerie twilit grove teeming with her children, plant-insect hybrids she alternately breeds for specialized purposes and pits against each other in open war, winnowing her own creations until only the most perfect survive. Ourien//Stillness Is Sanctuary (3-2): A great beast of twisting roots and ever-burning wood, Ourien was a rampaging forest Harbinger driven to burn away anything that disturbs the sanctity of its wide, ashen clearing. Esonei//Please Stop You’re Hurting Me (3-2): A formless forest Harbinger which fed on masochism and the emotional pain of hurting others, locked in a mutually self-destructive relationship with Ourien. Aulunla//We Are All Of Us Pigments (4-1, 4-5): A Harbinger which took the form of a physical book in a library, detailing a set of elaborate imagination-rituals which promised to teach participants to “carve their dreams into the world’s skin” and paint over the dull, static colors of reality with the brilliance of their souls. Its plans changed after it bonded with one of the first humans to read it, dedicating itself to granting her the power and understanding she dreamed of having. Others Alban Shiel (1-1): Liadain’s father, largely absent and neglectful since the extent of his daughter’s condition became clear. Noirin Hearne (1-1): A light-footed old woman receiving end-of-life care on the seventh floor. Liadain appreciates Noirin for her ability to talk to her without pity or open discomfort at the idea of a child dying of an illness, and counts her as her only real acquaintance in the hospital. Dr. Ralph Hines (2-1): The director of palliative care at Liadain’s hospital. As one of Yurfaln’s first victims, he’s taken a personal interest in doing what he can for Liadain, but despite his intelligence and experience, finds himself out of his depth when it comes to treating an illness that’s inextricably intertwined with a Keeper’s magic. Isobel (4-5): Aisling’s best friend, a girl fascinated with the hidden aspects of the world’s history and magic. After years of growing increasingly frustrated with relying on Aisling to ask the questions she most wanted to know, Isobel encountered Aulunla, formed a strange friendship with the Harbinger, and began working as its witch to empower them both. Ciaran (Epilogue 1): The masked vessel of a Harbinger he calls “a new god,” dwelling in a dark-skied world of broken stone towers crafted from deformed human figures. After Aulunla’s death, Ciaran drew Isobel into his patron’s Wound and offered to share its blessings with her. The Messengers of Claiasya: A family of six cute little spirits (and Vyuji) tasked, allegedly by the Goddess, with awakening the magic in potential Keepers’ souls and guiding their foster children through their new lives. Vyuji, the Moon Gardener (1-1): A strange little cetacean-girl shrouded in a cloak the color of the sea on a cloudy day. Vyuji eschews her siblings’ cutesy pop-icon presentation and is quite open about the darker aspects of life as a Keeper, simply trusting that children meant for her will understand the costs and agree that whatever they hope to obtain by making the Promise is worth it. Her interests seem to lie entirely with her Keepers and their growth, with protecting humans from Harbingers as a secondary benefit at most. Known Keepers: Liadain and Iona Enne, the Heart of the Sea (2-7): A fluffy pink cloud-seal. Enne loves his Keepers dearly and wants them to be happy and having fun with their new lives, but is simply not very smart. Enne is the most popular of his siblings, and there’s no shortage of cute toys made in his image. Known Keepers: Shona and Mide Fouhi, the Abyssal Archivist (2-7): A snake-faced lizard with scales of blue sea-glass. Fouhi is conversant in any scholarly subject imaginable, but their trains of thought seem to travel in strange jagged lines and come out sprinkled with words they may or may not make up on the spot. Known Keepers: Aisling Yune (2-7) Scelka (2-7) ----------------------------------------------------------- Nowhere Stars contains examples of: Abstract Eater: Harbingers eat things like dreams, passions, and souls. Adoptive Name Change: The Fianatas are an extended-foster family of Keepers, all legally adopted by the city's patron-protector, Iona Fianata; they all formally go by that surname, regardless of what names they had before. Animal Motifs: Everything associated with Claiasya, the goddess of the dominant (and seemingly only) religion in this world, is rife with ocean and sea-creature motifs. The Messengers all resemble sea creatures or have ocean-coloration, monasteries to her are built on islands, the lingua franca is called "Thalassyan," the center of the church is an underwater city, the souls of the dead are said to "return to the sea", and Harbingers seem to fear and avoid the ocean. As Claiasyan "overculture" is apparently the dominant culture of the world, this has trickled down to secular aspects of society too (see: Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp" below). Blue-and-Orange Morality: Harbingers that fall within "Cluster A", according to Aisling; they aren't hostile to humans, they genuinely see the things they do as helpful. It's just that their idea of "help" invariably involves some form of Body Horror, being Brainwashed and Crazy, or some other horrific fate. Yurfaln has no ill will towards Liadain or its victims; it simply considers sickness, suffering, and slow death beautiful and wants to share them with as many people as possible. Aulunla genuinely wanted to help its one human friend Isobel to achieve their dreams; it had no problem using its powers to drive multiple people to suicide to gain power to achieve this goal. Mention is made of one Harbinger that wanted to bring people together and overcome their differences... by flaying the skin off of them, as it was a "barrier" to their connection. Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": Most contemporary technology of reality exists in the world of Nowhere Stars, but they have different names, often befitting the "sea" theme the culture has: the internet is the "Coral Sea", websites are instead "reefs," and computers are "Cnidarian drives" (or "drives" for short). Child Mage: The Keepers have the power to use magic. The magic seems to come from their own souls and desires. Child Soldiers: Though the Keepers are regarded as celebrities and superheroes, they are still children fighting monsters that could very well kill them. Dark Magical Girl: Liadain is forgotten by her friends, largely ignored by her father, and became a Keeper purely on the hope of finding a way to cure her illness with magic and live forever. She's no less isolated or mistrustful of others in her new life, and her style of magic doesn't help matters. The Dreaded: Sophia the Deathless, a particularly ancient Keeper; not much has been revealed about her, but even Liadain is terrified to even bring her up, and she apparently has a habit of dissecting peoples' souls. Don't Go in the Woods: The forests outside the city bounds are completely infested with Harbingers, and unlike in the city they don't bother hiding in Wounds; instead, they superimpose their Pocket Dimension over reality, so you can wander into one and not even notice until reality starts twisting around you. The Harbingers here spend most of their time warring with each other, but will happily go after anyone stupid enough to poke around the forest. Great Offscreen War: One is occasionally mentioned in Liadain's narration, though details have yet to be given, aside from the fact that a lot of architecture and culture changed afterward to its current, borderline Solar Punk state, with the implication both were much closer to our own world beforehand. Healing Magic Is the Hardest: For whatever reason, though many Keepers have abilities applicable in healing, none of them on historical record have proved convenient or versatile enough for them to start clearing out hospitals on a reliable basis. Dr. Cantillon, an expert in the field of Keeper medicine, explains to Liadain that while there's probably some Keeper who could've helped her with her terminal illness without the need for her Promise, it's very unlikely circumstances would've aligned that way. It's an open question in-universe whether this difficulty is the result of illness being (apocryphally) the product of the ancient Harbinger Infezea, or some other quirk of magic. Hit So Hard, the Calendar Felt It: Though rare, Keepers at the height of their power and emergence can give everything to radically change and benefit the world at a large scale, and are referred to by the Church as 'Saints' and are used to mark the new yearly calendar. The current year as of the start of the story is Kuri 74, ushered in by the floral themed Keeper whose miracle is implied to be the reason the world's natural ecosystem is mostly healthy and unspoiled. Other notable Saints include Saint Nistla, who created vaccines, and Saint Riawal, for whom the school Shona, Mide, and Aisling attend is named after. If Jesus, Then Aliens: Discussed; Keepers and Harbingers are an accepted, almost routine part of life in this world; souls are also a known and observable fact, and the goddess Claiasya presumably exists as the Messengers outright claim to be working for her. Outside of these things however, there has never been any undeniable proof of other supernatural forces, like ghosts for instance, or non-Keeper related forms of magic. Liadain practices Tarot as a hobby, but doesn't believe it has any magical power. Even the existence of an afterlife is highly questionable, as there's no clear idea where souls go upon death. Several people throughout the centuries have tried to use this trope to argue for the existence of such things, but there's no real proof. I Just Want to Be Special: Most children, to one extent or another, dream of being chosen to become Keepers, and are disappointed when they "age out" of the age range. When Shona asks Aisling what exactly the Messengers are looking for, Aisling sounds like she's had this conversation many, many times. Immortality Seeker: Liadain wants to use the powers she gains from consuming Harbingers to achieve Complete Immortality. Life Drinker: Liadain can absorb the health of other people to keep the symptoms of her sickness at bay, and to give her an extra boost in combat; this results in the people themselves getting sick with a non-lethal version of her own sickness, so she tries to keep it to a minimum. This also gets discussed in one chapter, as an example of how little magic actually follows the laws of physics; as one doctor points out, "health" is not a fuel source one can tap and draw in, it's just a word that means "the absence of sickness." Living Forever Is Awesome: According to Liadain, anyone who doesn't think this is lying to themselves to cope with a terrible fate they can't change. Meaningful Funeral: Keeper funerals in New Claris are a solemn affair attended at the Chancel of the Silent Vessel and administered by the Church, customarily with other Keepers transformed in attendance. They end with a procession by boat out to the sea, and the funerary urn is 'returned' into the depths by Nha, the giant, aquatic Messenger visible to everyone. At Shona's funeral, Liadain has already learned from her Messenger, Vyuji, that death isn't metaphysically real, and so finds this very curious. Mentor Mascot: The Messengers. Liadain's Messenger is Vyuji. Missing Mom: Liadain's mom passed away when Liadain was a baby, and she has no personal memories of her; it's implied she died of the same illness that's currently killing Liadain herself. Older Than They Look: Once a child becomes a Keeper, they cease to physically age. The oldest Keeper in Liadain's city is in her nineties, and still looks like a teenager. Offscreen Afterlife: The Claiasyan religion doesn't go into any detail about the afterlife, despite souls being a known, proven, and observable phenomenon; scripture only says that the dead "bloom in full and return to the sea" with absolutely zero further explanation. Our Monsters Are Weird: In this case, they're abominations called Harbingers. They have strange goals and desires, they seem to feed by making civilians more like them, with predictably horrific results, and they live in Wounds, nightmare-realms where the rules of reality don't apply. It's also not clear where Harbingers come from. Conventional wisdom is that they're born from "negative emotions" of humans, but new Keepers quickly learn that this doesn't quite cover it; Yurfaln was apparently born from a relatively positive emotion, that being a dying man's comforting thoughts, that it simply took to a demented extreme. Likewise, if Harbingers are born from human emotions, why are the woods and forests, which are totally devoid of humans, completely overrun with them? Parental Neglect: Liadain's father does not visit her after dropping her off in the hospital, and Liadain mentions a few times that he doesn't really care about her. Personality Powers: A Keeper's power is based on their inner self. For example, Liadain's powers revolve around illness (as she is terminally ill) and tarot cards (which she uses to do readings, though she doesn't believe that they have any power). Pocket Dimension: Harbingers live in what are called "Wounds" (capital "W"), pocket realms that are shaped according to whatever their particular obsession is; thus, Yurfaln's is a cross between a grey, moldering tomb and a terrifying parody of a hospital, while Seryana's is a claustrophobic, rotting house with no doors. Police Are Useless: Zig-zagged. Police can do next to nothing against Harbingers — and they know it. However, they never hinder the Keepers; the opposite, in fact, police are very useful for quarantining areas where a Wound has opened, and for getting survivors medical attention. After Liadain defeats her first Harbinger, she's actually surprised that the emergency call operator asks no questions when she calls in to report the survivors. Tarot Motifs: Though Liadain dismisses the power of tarot cards as mystical nonsense, she enjoys doing readings for others, and tarot cards play a major role in her first transformation and in her powers. Interestingly, the tarot are slightly different in this universe; in addition to having very different art than is traditional, the fifteenth card, the Devil, is entirely absent and replaced with the Undreaming. Talk Show: Shona was briefly the teen-host of a junior talk show interviewing Keepers after she got too old to play her Magical Girl character; it didn't last long because Shona wasn't willing to stick to the sanitized, studio-approved questions. Technicolor Eyes: Keepers have these. Liadain's eyes are bright green in her transformed state. Shout-Out: "Champions of the Goddess," the official, church-sponsored trading card game about Keepers, seems to be one to Magic: The Gathering, with Keepers acting as Commanders. One Harbinger is discussed that wanted to created "unity" by flaying the skin off of people because ‘our skin was a barrier to true connection.’ This is identical to the philosophy of Elesh Norn's Machine Orthodoxy, also from Magic. The Assimilator: Nanaash is a hive mind, absorbing Keepers, Harbingers, and humans alike in a desperate attempt to find a sense of self: Their dual self-designation, reflects this. While this is Nanaash’s Thing, other Harbingers do this as well. When a being of magic eats a soul, they don’t destroy it. They integrate its memories, magic, beliefs, etc. into themselves, folding others into their story, desire, and delusion. Starfish Language: Harbingers have their own language, but for obvious reasons, there's never been a safe way for humans to learn it; some Keepers gain the ability to comprehend it, including Liadain, after she defeats and absorbs Aulunla, but all that really does is let them hear their incoherent ramblings, rather than truly communicate. It doesn't even seem to have a name, as one short POV section from the perspective of a Harbinger (Vianzia) simply refers to it as the Language, with a capital "L." Would Hurt a Child: The Harbingers can and will harm anyone, regardless of age. They will also fight the Keepers, who are children. Your Soul Is Mine!: After a Harbinger is defeated, its essence is left behind, which Keepers can absorb to add to their power. _________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------- _________________________________ Title Page Copyright Dedication Epigraph Contents Full Page Image 1. Death Inverted 1-1 Full Page Image 2. Death Inverted 1-2 3. Death Inverted 1-3 4. Death Inverted 1-4 Full Page Image 5. Death Inverted 1-5 6. Death Inverted 1-6 Full Page Image 7. Death Inverted 1-7 Full Page Image 8. Other Horizons 2-1 9. Other Horizons 2-2 10. Other Horizons 2-3 11. Other Horizons 2-4 Full Page Image 12. Other Horizons 2-5 13. Other Horizons 2-6 14. Duet 2-7 Afterword Groups ----------------------------------------------------------- First published by Timeless Wind Publishing LLC 2024 Copyright © 2024 by Anemone All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission. This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. Anemone asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. First edition Editing by WC and Lorne Ryburn Art by Bapho.s Typography by www.noblecreates.com ___________ NOWHERE STARS Book 1 A MAGICAL GIRL LIGHT NOVEL ANEMONE _________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------- _________________________________ ☕ _________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------- _________________________________