Before the Forest Spoke

Auren Emberlain has always lived in the margins-of academia, of sleep, of his own life. A professional student with too many degrees and not enough certainty, he survives on questions, chasing answers that never seem to fit. But when a fragment of forgotten folklore crosses his desk, something shifts. Whispers curl from between the lines. Shadows stretch in unnatural ways. And in the quiet corners of his vision, a figure of crystal and light begins to watch.

As dreams seep into daylight, Aur...