Dweller of the Mists

by SJ Sanders

This was supposed to be Noelle's last trip as part of one of Darvel Corporation's exploratory teams. After several years of service, she was finally done and ready to retire on Earth with her citizen benefits. It is just her dumb luck that she has been sent to a dangerous world covered continuously in a heavy blanket of fog that one team had already been lost to. It is worse, however, when it quickly becomes apparent that she was assigned to a doomed trip. An explosion on ship that forced an evacuation not only separates her from her team but drops her deep in the swamps, far from their intended base camp.

Frightened and alone, Noelle is forced to survive in a hostile and alien world where her only company is a strange alien lurking in the swamp. The male sings every night for her, his bioluminescence lighting the swamps, but the amphibious alien is an unknown factor. Alien or not, she needs to get to base camp and rejoin her team, but can she trust a potentially dangerous stranger with her safety, or with her heart?

**This is a companion novella to Mist Asylum of Graelf coming spring 2025. Although it can be read as a standalone it is a better reading experience when one is familiar with the Darvel Exploratory Systems series and has already read The Frog Prince.

128 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 15, 2025

Reviews

[Poppy || Monster Lover · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
While I quite liked Gwum and Noelle, I felt like I didn’t know them as a couple. They had a good meeting, some adventures, but very little getting to know one another. Or exploring the whole he wants to be adventurous with her thing. Darvel is a fascinating universe and I do enjoy the unique amphibious monsters.

Spice: 2/5

Triggers: animal attack, poverty, stalking, second class citizenship, references to death

[꧁ᙏᗣᙃⱿꙆᗣ꧂ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tales from the Darvel Exploratory Systems
If it is a novel in the same world as Serpents of the Abyss and Serpents of the Night and preceding the events in these volumes I assume that it could be part with the number 1.5 🤔
In any case, this is a great start to the new series
1. Flower of Seshena - ✅ 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Triada
2. Dweller of the Mists - ✅ 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Noela and Gwum Narvook Shoowilp Bia
-This novella accompanies - Mist World: Asylum of Graelf (MWAG)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spin Off for The Darvel Exploratory Systems (5 book series) :
1. Classified Planet: Turongal - ✅ 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Charlene "Charlie" Wallace - Rhys
2. Serpents of the Abyss - ✅ 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lori Straford - Slengral - Daskh - Kehtal
3. Snows of Aturia - ✅ 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Vanessa Williams - Jor'ytal
4. The Frog Prince - ✅ 4.5 ⭐ stars from me for this surprisingly engaging novella 😉👍
Gwen Brody - Zyr
5. Serpents of the Night - ✅ 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Happy end for Lori and her partners
Lori Straford - Slengral - Daskh - Kehtal

[Taramisu · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐

Similar in feel to Chosen by Stacy Jones. Society where females choose the male, but our MMC has no interest in becoming a house-husband; especially not to the available females.

Our FMC is from a dystopian society and finally decides that "earning" her freedom by serving United Earth is a waste when she has everything on this planet she could ever ask for.

I felt that tickle of deja vu while reading and started to wonder if this was the same planet from "The Frog Prince". It is! Given that I haven't read that in a long while, I give myself a pat on the back and will now insist my husband stop telling me I'm forgetful

(Quick note. I was surprised to see this was released in 2025. The number of typos was pretty excessive in such a short piece.)

[Janina s. Asselin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

Nice conclusion to the Darvel mission. So very interesting and fun to try to picture what the creatures looked like. Wish there were drawings like some authors do. Not cartoonish but artistic. Characters were varied and that deepened the story line for the reader.

[Adrianell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story!
Noelle was sent by Darvel Corp with three other people on the same planet that two other explorers vanished on. The swampy one from The Frog Prince. Luckily the new crew was sent to a plateau in the mountains. Unluckily, the ship blew up and they were all dropped in the escape pods in random places. Noelle found herself on the same swamp the previous explorers vanished in, she even found their camp on her way to the plateau. And she was found by a cute amphibian alien, Gwum.
Gwum was a healer fascinated with the things that fell from the sky. When he saw a small female getting out of a metal pod that fell in the swamp, he couldn't help himself and followed her. He had to keep her safe. He was a sweet idiot, saying that he never wanted a mate, when he was already falling for Noelle or not telling her that they were mated and almost losing her, because of that.
Overall the story was short and sweet. I'd love to read short (or longer) stories about how the other members of the crew found their happiness.

[DemetraP · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a sequel to the Frog Prince. The first team disappeared. Darvel sent a second team to the swamps.

He swims well, climbs trees, has claws, and lights up. She starts glowing after drinking swamp water for days. He protects her and convinces her to allow him to travel with her for safety.

Another couple is mentioned, a Gwyr male named Hashi and a human woman named Amanda Kastle. I tried to see if this couple has a story but could not find one.

[Daenerys Targaryen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heroine is stranded in an alien swamp land and meet amphibious hero who woos her and viola! they are mated. The end.