Tree Of Smoke Book Review Novels & Stories

Hope surged through me, a raw, desperate thing. “Almost there, Rhys,” I gasped, though I wasn’t sure he could hear me. His breathing was shallow, his body alarmingly still. The smoke grew stronger, leading me to a barely visible path. It was narrow, overgrown, winding through a cluster of ancient, gnarled trees that seemed to stand guard. I stumbled, my feet catching on roots, my arms burning, but I pressed on. Finally, through a clearing in the trees, a faint, flickering light. A small, ramshackle cabin, tucked away in the deepest part of the woods. Smoke curled lazily from its chimney, a beacon in the oppressive darkness.

Slowly, his eyes followed the line of the treetops where a dark smear marred the pale sky. Elara caught the change in him instantly. “What is it?” He said nothing at first, his body rigid. Then, with a voice low and hollow, he murmured, “Smoke.” Elara’s stomach dropped. She followed his gaze through the branches, and there it was: a rising column, black and thick, unfurling across the horizon like the hand of some dark god. “No…” Ryker whispered. His axe slipped from his grasp, thudding into the moss at his feet. His legs carried him forward without thought, breaking through a cluster of ferns until the forest opened into a clearing.

“You won’t refuse once you see what Kendric is really like.” The world shifts again, and I stumble as the ground beneath my feet hardens into scorched earth. The air is thick and oppressive. Smoke coils in the sky like angry spirits, blotting out the sun and turning everything into a dim twilight. The trees surrounding the clearing are half-burned, their trunks blackened, their leaves gone, branches reaching like skeletal fingers into the haze. The fire still clings to the roots in some places, flickering low and stubborn. There is no wind, only heat and silence broken by the occasional crackle of burning wood.

I didn't want Lyra to see how I was feeling, so I made an excuse to go into the nearby woods. But I'd barely left the hot spring area, before I could even calm myself, when I heard horrifying roars from the sky not far away. Then, thick black smoke, reeking of strong corrosion, spread rapidly from the direction of the stream we’d just left, towards the entire pack territory! The surrounding trees, upon contact with the black smoke, withered and rotted at a visible speed, turning into disgusting pools of black pus. The air filled with the pungent smell of sulfur and death.

The men around him stepped back but he… he stood there, in middle of the forest as everything around him caught fire. I quickly backed away as dry leaves in front of me caught fire. Burning embers flew in air, and with the warmth, I felt strange coldness. The smoke billowed around me, thick and suffocating. I staggered, my throat raw and lungs burning with every desperate gasp for air. The bark of the oak tree behind me sizzled, flames licking up its side, and in a frantic moment, I pressed myself lower to the ground. But it didn’t matter. I could feel him—his eyes on me, even though the blazing forest, as if the fire itself was his doing.

"See Mama Roux. I will deal with Callum, Lilith, and Cain. Go now, before whatever is coming gets closer." I did not argue. I rode north alone. Dominic knew I was going. No bikers behind me, no radio check-ins. Just the bike, the morning, my wolf reading every metre of territory as I passed through it, cataloguing the boundary markers, the tree coverage, the shift in air quality as the pack's formal infrastructure fell away. The smoke was visible before the house. A thin column rising from the chimney, steady, and calm, the smoke of something that had been burning for a while rather than something recently lit. The herbs were back in the window. Dark bundles hanging in their usual arrangemen

It hasn’t rained in at least a week, the forest is very dry. For a moment the flames dance in a way that makes me think they are trying to tell a story. I shake my head but the flames continue to form the shape of people. Suddenly the people begin the run from a darkness that makes the flames disappear for a moment. What is going on? The smoke fills my lungs and I begin to gasp for air. I look up, the smoke in the sky is black and thick. The smell of burnt pine is making it hard to breathe.

Small clustering pebbles scattered over much of the land, but huge invasive lumps of rock also smashed up from beneath the grass, dirt, and even the lakes. Down south over the broader waters, storm and wind swirled the vapors and sea alike, moving in the circular patterns of the scrub brushes used to clean smoke tanks. To the northeast, smoke and mist rose in drifting columns from various valleys and beside the lakes and rivers. Strange and exciting scents and odors shifted through the air with a focus near the areas of mist. Yet, for the most part, even the unknown aromas were dry as though dulled down by lack of moisture in the air. Below smelled and tasted deficient in texture and nutriti

But as he neared the edge of the forest, a chilling darkness swept across his path. Black smoke, thick and unnaturally cold, coiled before him like a living entity. It slithered through the trees, blocking his way, its tendrils writhing as if savoring the moment. Magnus skidded to a halt, his senses screaming danger. He tried to push forward, but the smoke surged at him, enveloping him in an icy grip. The darkness weighed on him, draining his strength and suffocating his thoughts. He could barely move; it was as though invisible chains bound him in place.

Asher’s POV The smoke curled thick in the air, swallowing the trees, twisting them into what looked like monstrous shadows. My lungs burned with every breath I drew. Here, in the heart of the forest, it was me, Elijah, and the weight of everything that had led us to this moment. He stood across from me, his eyes glowing a sickening gold in the smoke. Anna trembled behind him, she was struggling to stay alive and it was too evident, her face streaked with ash and terror.