Illusions of the Mist

Caroline always dreamt of joining her mother on the fishing boats.

That all changed when she caught a corucaish.

On the Night of Firefraught Lights, Caroline Walsh did what she had always done: she fished. She cast her net out to sea, only to catch a corucaish-a mythical silver fish that bore both prayers and curses wherever it traveled. Upon showing the fish to her father, the beast coughed up an amputated hand, and with it, a curse that ravaged the town.

Blamed for the curse and ostracized by the town, Caroline put on her first mask: the best fisher who could avenge her town, feed her family, and stop death in its tracks. For years, she fed her obsession, only to have Death come knocking on her doorstep as a stout, balding man. This man offers her the chance of a lifetime: become his apprentice.

With a new opportunity in front of her, Caroline has a decision to make. Should she abandon her life by the sea and enter an eternity as Death, or stay home and let the sea direct her life? And if she chooses eternity, will she be able to find what she is looking for or wander aimlessly against the current of existence?

In this first installment of The Story Collector's Almanac, follow Caroline as she secures her place in the Council of Mist Keepers and transforms into the notorious woman in black from The Mist Keeper's Apprentice.

Rated 14+ for use of language and mentions of death and drowning.