The Second Realm Season 1: The Second Gift

Season finale:

With the help of Pevan and Van Raighan, Rel has escaped the clutches of the Gift-Givers. Convinced that Keshnu is about to destroy the Second Realm, Rel persuades his rescuers to stay in Vessit with him and keep watch. When a new Realmquake hits, Rel's fears seem to have been borne out, but if he interferes, he knows Taslin will be waiting for him.

Previous episodes:

Episode 3.3: The Weight of the World on Her Shoulders (or at Smashwords - still free)

The First Realm is starting to shake itself apart under the strain of the Second. Dora's new powers offer some hope to stabilise it, but she can't hold the world together and keep tabs on Rel at the same time.

And the Clearseer is about to find a new and dangerous ally...

Episode 3.2: Mind Over Matter (or at Smashwords - still free)

Dora and Wolpan have managed to save Thia from the perils of the Second Realm, but they have no idea what Dora did to manage it. Whatever it was, it's left the nearby Sherim unstable and dangerous. 

Keshnu comes to the rescue, but his attempt to help Dora gain control of her growing powers misfires badly, and seeds an utterly unthinkable consequence. 

Episode 3.1: A Knot Better Tied (or at Smashwords - still free)

Rel's actions on arrival in Vessit landed him in prison. Dora must deal with the fallout from his arrest while suffering the uncontrollable, chaotic effects of her Second Gift. When one of Vessit's Gifted becomes stranded in the Second Realm, Dora takes the opportunity to leave her problems behind and help with the rescue.

But nothing is ever so simple in the Second Realm.

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The second anthology (episodes 5-7):

 

 In prison in the frontier town of Federas, notorious master-thief Van Raighan shows Pevan a vision of her as his lover. Then he escapes with the help of a powerful Wilder.

Chasing him into the perilous North Wilds, Pevan begins to realise there's a lot more to the thief than a nihilistic traitor to his own kind. He holds a secret that might mean salvation for all mankind, and offers Pevan a deal; to learn the truth, she must accompany him to the Second Realm and meet his inhuman allies.

Episode 2.3: Falling Off the Face of the Earth (or at Smashwords - still free)

Pevan has caught up to the fugitive Van Raighan. The thief offers her a deal: he'll reveal his secrets to her if she goes with him to the Second Realm before she turns him in.

It's a dangerous bargain, but Pevan's beginning to learn that Van Raighan's dark reputation may be undeserved. He may only be a puppet of far stranger forces, forces that care nothing for mankind.


 

Episode 2.2: She Stoops to Conquer (or at Smashwords - still free)

Pevan pursues escaped thief Van Raighan into the edges of the treacherous North Wilds. She risks everything to get her man, but there are human as well as Second-Realm dangers in the Wilds. As fatigue slowly gets the better of Pevan, she may find herself having to rely on her quarry to get her back to safety.

Episode 2.1: Wild Hawk Down (or at Smashwords - still free)

From behind bars in Federas' jail, master thief Van Raighan shows Pevan a vision of her as his lover. Before he can explain, his allies among the Children of the Wild attack the town to rescue him. Pevan is left with the choice: protect her home, or chase the truth.

* * *

  The first Second Realm anthology (episodes 1-4):

The Children of the Wild gave Rel the Gift of Clearseeing. Now he can see the future, except for his part in it.

Dora, Four Knot and head Gifted of Rel's hometown, is known throughout both the Realms as the most formidable woman in either.

With the powerful, mysterious Gift-Giver, Taslin, in tow, Rel and Dora set off across the First Realm in pursuit of Rel's vision. The journey will force them to confront yet again the mantra of the Gifted;

The only thing we know about the Second Realm is that we know nothing.


Episode 1: I Can See Clearly Now (or at Smashwords - still free)

Rel's Clearviewing offers the little town of Federas the chance to catch the master thief, Chag Van Raighan, before he strips the town of its protection against Wildren. But Van Raighan holds a secret which might rip the peace apart...






Episode 2: You Can't Go Home Again (or at Smashwords - still free)

Waking up in the sleepy, complacent town of Nursim after rescuing Rel from the Second Realm, Dora discovers there's something wrong with her mind. The Wildren have done something to her, and now the Gift-Giver, Taslin, has come to 'monitor' her. When Rel claims the Gift-Givers have turned against mankind, it's up to Dora to sort the mess out, but she can barely remember her own name.

Episode 3: A Hole In Her Mind (or at Smashwords - still free)

Rel and Dora's journey to Vessit is interrupted by a near-mythic Child of the Wild, thought long-extinct. If they're going to survive, Rel will have to trust the shady Gift-Giver, Taslin, but Taslin's plan involves hiding inside an unexplored portal to the Second Realm...

Episode 4: Touching the Void (or at Smashwords - still free)

Rel finally arrives in Vessit, chasing Rissad Van Raighan's secrets. Answers await him, but to get at them he'll have to deal with Dora's increasingly erratic moods, Taslin's unknowable motives, and the sinister Children of the Wild who guard Vessit's Abyss. And Rissad's purpose remains obscure. Why does he want to open the giant concrete door beneath the town, and what lies behind it?