The Unspoken Name Novels & Stories

The Last Tree bent beneath invisible pressure. Nova felt cold. Terribly cold. And then, she heard laughter. Children's laughter. Soft. Distant. Wrong. The sound echoed across existence. Every soul present froze. Because the laughter carried no joy. No happiness. No innocence. Only hunger. The Traveler whispered: "No." The word barely escaped. "No, they're here." Origin frowned. "Who?" The Traveler's face turned pale. "The Unwritten." Silence. The name itself felt wrong. Like a story missing pages.

I let my eyes flutter shut to embrace the darkness when I was suddenly snapped out of reality. "Leave your eyes open,mate. You can't lose consciousness" He said with a little fear in his eyes while he rushed somewhere. The wind slapped my face whenever he took a turn and I was left to wonder how someone could run this fast. I let my arms around his neck fall freely as I was too weak to hold on. Since the silence was awkward and made me uncomfortable, I attempted to form small conversations. "My name is Annalise, what's yours?"

Something without a name. Something with many.

No name starts. “Look.” I interrupt “I don’t really know what all this is. I don’t know why you,” I point to Nathaniel “are hell bent on me joining your pack. And why you,” I point to no name, “have decided to make yourself known but not actually say anything. And I really don’t know what any of all of this secrecy has to do with me.” ‘Well, that’s not exactly true, Roo.’ Nessa chimes in. ‘Hush you.’

She sat in the garden, watching the sky. Someone asked her name. She didn’t answer. Because she didn’t remember. She didn’t remember Nyrah. She didn’t remember the god. But she remembered a sound. The hum that preceded every moment the god had ever spoken. And when she hummed it—The plants around her bent toward her. That night, a new group gathered outside the sanctuary. Hooded. Silent. Ash-covered. In the dirt, they drew a blank circle. One stepped forward, voice deep. “Prophecy failed. Flame burned too bright. The god slept… but the Unnamed remains.”

Hades said calmly, his voice unchanged. “I…Can I name someone?” I broke the line of the father and son argument, I knew I shouldn't, but I kept quiet long enough to let everyone know my answer. While the two of them were discussing my life, I started to have arrangements in my head and the name I saw was: "PACULAR SPARKER"

The whole truth had wolfsbane under the char and a god who drove up the island road in an Italian suit, and that name was known in this room, was maybe known better in this room than anywhere on the continent, and if I said it I wasn't telling the Alpha anything he needed. I was reaching across this small hard room and putting my hand into the one person standing here who carried that name in her own blood, and pressing on a bruise I had no business touching, for nothing, for no gain I could name. So I left him out of it. I left the devil out of my own parents' funeral because saying his name served no one in that room. The Luna spoke for the first time.

Isaac said to the crowd and the hostess as he dropped a stack of cash on the hostess stand. “My name isn’t Jody!” the hostess called after us.

Just flickers, fleeting impressions. Suddenly, Emory’s voice cut into the silence, “Don't rush yourself alice, just take your time, if you need a break we can take a break” 'No, i can do this" i snapped back. I continued to focus on each name, each face, i could feel Emory listening to my thoughts. It was conforting knowing i was not alone in this process. 'Isabella? Young, naieve, by loyal, Patricia? Sleeping with her best friend... Ivan......'

The Unhollow whispered one final word. Anchor.