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Audiobooks Narrated by Scott Summers
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“You can’t do that,” one of the elders following me argued, but he didn’t try to physically stop me.
“Pretty sure I can,” I said, not looking back.
“No. She’s a fourth rank mana beast, and at present, she’s the only fourth rank beast or fourth-ring mage. She could cause havoc!”
I turned and stared the elder down. “I’ve been in this role for, what, thirty minutes? And you’re already questioning my choices?”
I arched a brow, letting the silence linger while he thought about how strongly he wanted to oppose me. I didn’t expect them to immediately accept my leadership wholeheartedly, but I damn well wasn’t going to let them walk all over me.
He seemed to come to a decision, stepping back and dipping his head in acknowledgment.
Nodding, I continued onward. I knew his intentions were probably to help and guide me, but I wasn’t about to be persuaded away from my current task. I was going to release Mei.
And thanks to my newly won station as the first ranked mage in the Ferrymen’s Core Court, I had access to Mei. I was now the core of the sect and I could, in fact, release Mei.
I smiled, enjoying finally having a position with some power.
“At least let us bring a dozen elders to help, in case of an issue.”
“No need. Mei will be fine,” I said.
I rounded the last corner and saw Mei already waiting by the door of her cell. Her fox ears swiveled forward and fixated on me. No doubt she had heard our conversation, although her casual stance didn’t give it away.
The wind flapped at my robes as I stood on the very peak of the floating mountain. The Ferrymen sect lay out below me, sprawling down the mountainside.
Thousands of disciples worked tirelessly to progress their cultivation. All of them would kill to stand at the peak of the mountain and absorb the rich, pure mana that flowed out from the top and cascaded down to them.
But even this concentration of mana felt diluted to me now. I’d been cultivating the immortal mana from the portal for over thirty years. Cultivating at the top of the mountain now was like trying to get drunk on lake water after pouring a jug of wine into it. The immortal mana was just so rich compared to the mana of this world.
Thirty years had brought more peace across the sects.
At least, as peaceful as a world of cultivators could be.
Constant conflict between the sects and the wilderness toughened disciples, tempered them so they could be sharpened to a finer point with their cultivation. Struggles helped mages progress. Like diamonds, they needed pressure to form. I had learned that through my own experiences.
I’d been part of a generation toughened through the corruption of the Sun and Moon Hall. We had managed to come together, but it had almost been too late. And it had taken a long time to dig out of the chaos that was left when they were finally defeated.
My own cultivation had taken over a year to recover, and Kat’s had taken almost a decade.
I faced into the wind, letting the air batter my face as I breathed deeply, remembering the long road to recovery. It had been difficult to accept my weakened body as it had healed.
But we had recovered and pushed our sect forward, building our own cultivation to the peak of this world. Now I coached and helped mold the future generation of mages, but there was an empty space in me wanting to push myself further. To become something stronger.
A month had passed since I’d decimated the Ying family and their estate.
I leaned back in the Su family manor, which had since become a buzz of activity. After the fall of the Ying family, everyone had looked to Wenxi Su and the Su family to lead Murdock.
And a new faction had formed as well. My family, along with the rest of the sects that had come up from the mortal world, had made a group called simply The Alliance. We’d carved the Ying family compound into five different structures, rebuilt within the grounds. Each structure was headed by one of the powerful sects that had come from the mortal world.
I had led efforts and used The Alliance’s manpower as we rebuilt Murdock after the fight with the Ying family patriarch. If anything, Murdock looked like it was well past recovery and moving forward at a blistering pace.
The mortal cultivators had injected a livelihood that the town had been missing before. Hundreds of third- and fourth-ring cultivators eagerly pushed their cultivation to the next level, using the immortal mana to speed up their efforts. Mana beasts outside the city were becoming scarce as the eager cultivators worked to fill their rings and progress their capabilities.
Looking around, I tried to spot my target. I needed to talk to Wenxi. For all the growth and excitement that was stirring in Murdock, I had other plans.
As a fifth-ring immortal, I needed stronger opponents, so I was thinking about venturing north towards Blueheavens. It was supposedly a mecca of cultivators and home to the main compound of the Su family.
Wenxi had said her family was only a medium-sized power among the city and other ancient families. I wanted to find more clues about my mother’s family and where she might be, and that was my best bet.
Now a well-known activist, Maryam, along with her two best friends Hashim and Alex, is chosen by the President of the United States to draw up a proposal to help fight climate change, mere weeks before superstorm Roxanne makes landfall in the Northeast.
After the President’s Future Rescue Advisory Board hears their climate proposal to set heavy taxes on meat, dairy and carbon emissions, and someone leaks it to the press, chaos spreads across party lines. A few months since they stopped a deadly virus in its tracks, the three uncover a conspiracy on the highest level of the legislative branch.
While the deadly hurricane wreaks havoc along the eastern seaboard, destroying the U.S. Naval Command in Norfolk, Virginia, and hitting New York City with devastating force, Maryam, Hashim, and Alex grapple with forces beyond their control in the government.
How will their stories unravel? What do their futures hold as they mature into adults in a world that may not accept them? Find out in this last book in the Rise Up Trilogy.
In the second installment of the Rise Up Trilogy, best friends Hashi, Alex, and Maryam stumble upon a huge government coverup. When more people get sicker and sicker, and nothing about the outbreak makes news, it becomes clear the corruption goes up high.
As the three attempt to expose and stop a tragedy that could kill thousands, they end up framed as the bioterrorists responsible for this exact crime, and a team of hitmen is dispatched to hunt them down. As they grapple with their own growing pains, Hashi, Alex, and Maryam hurry to outrun the disaster, prove that they are innocent, and do what they feel is right.
The Rise Up Trilogy is a coming-of-age story about three best friends on the threshold of adulthood. Before they can find their place in this world, they must come to terms with their past, as they are confronted by intolerance, ignorance, and corporate greed that threaten to rob them all of their future. Suspenseful, fast-paced, and heart-wrenching, this book is a call-to-action for all us.
A thrilling, coming-of-age story with a queer protagonist about the power of friendship, overcoming harmful stereotypes, growing up in the shadow of family expectations, and discovering your true self.
High school best friends Hashim, Alex, and Maryam must confront real-life issues that loom for Gen-Z today, including the climate crisis, corrupt politics, and racial and gender equity.
When Hashim turns eighteen, he receives a grant from his Mosque that will send him to an Ivy League in New York. His devout Muslim family couldn’t be more proud. And to support their young son on his journey, they arrange a wife for him. There’s only one problem: Hashim is gay.
Hashim’s best friend Alex is struggling with a difficult home life, a non-present father, and financial issues that prove particularly painful when all his friends are planning to go off to college and leave him behind.
Standing confidently alongside these two boys is Maryam, a headstrong Muslim girl who bucks her traditional roots by becoming a vegan activist.
It doesn’t take long until certain evil forces start to draw these three even closer, as their futures and the wellbeing of their community and the world is threatened. They are called to act.
The first book in the Rise Up Trilogy, Catch You If You Fall is a page-turning and suspenseful story as well as a deeply moving ray of hope amidst the hardship and deep loss our youngest generation must face in order to find their place in this world.
Check out Merry Farm next in the series.
