After the events of The Calling and before The Chasm, Eka faces an unknown danger...
Don’t seek the truth. It already seeks you.
After Eka and his new friends help secure an uneasy truce with the humans, their lives are irrevocably changed. He and Rana share a strange energetic link, putting him in constant jeopardy. A difficult choice looms before him. He can choose to trust his village’s Crowned Ones and undergo an experimental training to explore his unusual connection with Rana. Or, he can hope his past attempt to star beam when Rana was in danger was a fluke that will never again happen and risk dying if it does. Seeking the truth of their connection seems the obvious choice, but ever since his cousin’s unexplained death, Eka has struggled to trust his village’s Crowned Ones. His mistrust becomes the least of his problems as he uncovers an even greater threat.
The image below includes alt-text.
The events in this short story take place right after 'The Calling'. You should definitely read 'The Calling' first since this won't make much sense otherwise. If you haven't read it yet, go check it out and come back later! :)
I loved 'The Calling', so it was a pleasure to revisit the familiar setting and characters. This story is told from Eka's point of view. He was an interesting and somewhat mysterious character in the first book, but he didn't get his own POV there, so it was nice to get to know him better. Unsurprisingly, he turned out likeable and real.
In 'The Cords That Bind', the star beings from Eka's village investigate his deep connection to Rana and his attempt to star beam to her rescue before crowning that has almost killed him. They try to teach him to resist the instinct to do that again since the next time is very likely to be fatal. They quickly discover that this dangerous and uncontrollable behavior is connected to another event from the past that was briefly mentioned in the first book. Their investigation leads them to an unexpected and chilling discovery.
I enjoyed 'The Cords That Bind', but it ended on a cliffhanger. I think it's setting the stage for the next book, and the big mystery will be solved there, but the short story itself didn't feel like it had enough of a resolution of its own to me.
Nevertheless, I think it's worth reading if you enjoyed 'The Calling' and are going to read the next book in the series. It's nice to have something to read while we wait for it!
You can get the short story on Amazon.
Featured image by cocoparisienne.