Books
Sonia Blair

The Whisperwind Blight

Willowmere is dying. The Whisperwind River, once a source of vibrant magic, now flows dull and lifeless. The whispering willows, their leaves crumbling to ash, stand as silent witnesses to a creeping oblivion that steals not just life but memory itself.  The scent of freshly baked bread, the joy of friendship, even the stories that shaped the town are fading into a chilling, amnesiac silence.
At the heart of this decay lives Fennick Mossleaf, a once-renowned alchemist now haunted by fragmented memories of a forbidden expedition, a lost love, and a creeping dread that whispers of his own complicity in Willowmere's plight. His only solace lies in the mundane routine of his apothecary, a stark contrast to the thrilling concoctions he once brewed.  But the whispers of the past, intertwined with the town's fading memories, grow too loud to ignore.
Urging him to act is Marlo Briarwood, his spirited apprentice.  Devoid of magic but blessed with an uncanny intuition, Marlo perceives the blight's emotional resonance — the lingering sorrow, the confusion, the fear that clings to Willowmere like a phantom limb. She feels the echoes of Elara Meadowbrook, Fennick's lost love, a woman whose name, though fading from Fennick’s lips, resonates deeply within Marlo’s empathetic heart.
Their constant companion, Barnaby, Fennick’s sentient brass cauldron, fueled by a secret stash of enchanted charcoal, adds his theatrical pronouncements to their growing unease.  He reveals that the blight doesn't speak in words but in dreams, a forgotten language echoing in the whispering willows and the stagnant river.
Together, they embark on a perilous journey through the blighted whispering woods, navigating a glade of weeping moonlight trees and a river where lost memories manifest as seductive phantoms.  They uncover a hidden herbal anthology, filled with ancient secrets and warnings about unchecked ambition and the delicate balance between magic and nature.  As they delve deeper, they discover that the blight is not a malevolent force but a manifestation of Silvanus’s grief, the forgotten god of Willowmere, driven to despair by generations of exploitation.
Their quest is complicated by the Gloomweavers, a shadowy organization that sees Silvanus's sorrow as an opportunity to seize control of Willowmere’s magic. Led by the enigmatic Nightshade, they manipulate the town’s amnesia and fear, their

144 printed pages
Original publication
2024
Publication year
2024
Publisher
PublishDrive
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