Sandman Novels & Stories

Darkness so complete that it swallowed the mountains themselves. There was no wind. No birds. No sound. Just endless black stretching to the horizon. “What is that?” I whispered. Ardan appeared beside me. “The First Shadow.” I frowned. “It’s outside.” “It is everywhere.” ⸻ Behind us, the creature inside the sanctuary let out another low growl. I turned instinctively. It hadn’t moved. It was watching Serena. Not us. Serena smiled. “You see?” She spread her arms as if greeting an old friend.

I lifted my hands and flicked them. "Draw," I whispered. The lines etched themselves in the dirt. "I don't have any offerings." Angandriel shook his head. "She'll come. She'll want to keep the balance." I didn't know what that meant, but he didn't respond to my questioning look. I raised my hands over my head. "Karma, force of nature, I summon thee. I offer up an angel." Purple smoke poured from the ruins. Her hard eyes narrowed on me.

With one final thought of gratitude towards her aunt for her unwavering support, Aqua surrendered to the darkness, allowing its gentle embrace to carry her away from the tempest of her thoughts and into the peaceful realm of dreams. As Aqua's eyelids drooped with drowsiness, the rhythmic patter of rain against her window lulled her towards sleep. However, her rest was abruptly interrupted by the sound of rocks clattering against the glass. Startled, she sat up in bed, her heart pounding with apprehension. Peering through the darkness, she made out a figure standing outside her window. It was Damon, his expression etched with worry. Aqua's initial shock gave way to concern as she hurriedly ma

Bummer he wasn't in the right mind. “Idiots.” Damion hissed darting out into the night. No doubt already hunting down an innocent creature out of spite. He was just a bloodthirsty killer. Even I have boundaries I never crossed. Looking down at the girl. Her blonde hair was tangled from the floor yet she still remained cold. Her power probably had something to do with that. For all I know she could always be cold. Eric rubbed his hands together, opening a portal to the dreadful castle. “This will be such fun.” His cheery voice was still sharp leaving me stung.

"Oh yes, I forgot. You're a seer." "I'm not a...oh well...never mind..." Cassandra tried not to roll her eyes. She had had enough of this world and was desperate to find somewhere familiar even if it was a place where she had to put up with her seed-eating aunt and uncle. A long walk later, the sorceress stopped them. "Wait," she said and turned to the wall where two large marble statues stood about ten feet tall. They were of a bird with the head and torso of a maiden called the Sirins. Cassandra knew them from her literature class in Eastern Slavic folklore.

He wants us to doubt the bridge. I only hear you, Audrey, Lucas replied. Your voice is the only thing that’s real. They reached the central chamber. It was a vast, hollow sphere of obsidian, suspended over a lake of liquid shadow. In the center, floating on a platform of bone, was Samantha. She was no longer recognizable as a woman. Her body had been stretched and elongated, her skin a translucent purple that showed the black ichor flowing through her veins. Above her, a massive, jagged rift was tearing open in the air—the Eye of the Sleeper.

“A-And who is that––that who inhabits the other realm?” Samantha’s lips tightened. “The personification of my curse, Mors,” she suddenly placed a finger across her lips. “You should never speak its name or your soul will be hunted.” Her light steps towards Kathleen and the way she held her freezing hands made the woman freeze even more. “Your hands are usually warm, but I quite understand,” she whispered and looked directly in her eyes. “Just underneath our minimal perception lies another world—a world humans shouldn’t know; the world where I belong and it calls me again. This is the only safe place to where I can speak about them... about those dreadful creatures,” Samantha’s shoulders sett

His eyes caught on a footnote at the bottom: See also: Fated Bonds for cases of supernatural attraction overriding species instinct. Nathan froze. The Special Section required faculty permission, but the wolf in him recognized opportunity. He waited until the librarian stepped away before slipping behind the circulation desk. The Special Section door opened with a creak that set his teeth on edge. Inside, the air smelled different—older, heavier with magic. His night vision sharpened as he scanned the shelves until he found it: Fated Bonds: When Instinct Overrides Reason. The cover felt strangely warm under his fingertips, bound in what his wolf recognized immediately as wolfskin.

Something waiting. --- Determined not to be paralyzed by fear, I returned to the antique bookstore — to the stories, the secrets, the fragments of forgotten women. The elderly owner greeted me with a knowing smile. “You’re searching for answers,” he said quietly. I nodded. He handed me a leather-bound tome, its cover worn but strong — *Reflections of the Forgotten*. “Read carefully,” he advised. “Sometimes the past speaks through shadows.” --- I spent the night poring over its pages. The book told of women trapped in illusions, caught between worlds — ghosts of themselves, struggling to reclaim their true identities.

Not the music of wolves but something cracked and ancient. Beside her, Seren finished drawing the rite's sigils into the rock with chalk and crushed bone. The wind howled around them. “He’ll feel this,” Seren said. “Good,” Lyra replied. She stepped forward and lifted the Moon Flame pendant. It blazed to life. A beacon of silver-white light split the darkness, firing into the clouds above like a signal fire. The canyons below went still. Every corrupted beast turned upward. And from the center of the army—