Midnight Echoes Break Between Silent Thrones

by Alyssa Ross

The night hung over the land like a velvet shroud, thick and suffocating, pressing down on the world with a silence so absolute that even the owls dared not break it. No wind stirred the trees on the mountain ridges, no ripple disturbed the waters of the river that cut like a silver blade between two kingdoms. All was still—too still—as though the earth itself were holding its breath, listening.
And then, faintly, it the echo.
It was not a sound born of nature, nor of man, nor of beast. It was something in between, a whisper made of air and stone and memory, drifting across the river in waves that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. The first time it came, the guards on the western walls of Kharathor had shivered but said nothing. By the second time, they exchanged uneasy glances, whispering prayers under their breath. By the third, one man dropped his spear in terror and was whipped for it the following morning.
The echo did not speak words, not at first. It was like the sigh of an ancient door opening onto a forgotten chamber, the groan of the earth beneath unbearable weight. It carried with it the chill of graves long sealed, and the ache of memories unspoken. And yet, to those who listened long enough, there was a cadence in it, a pattern that hinted at meaning just beyond reach.
The kingdoms of Kharathor and Selithar had grown used to silence over the centuries.

46 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 22, 2025

About the author

My name is Alyssa and I’m from Brampton, ON, Canada. I have written three novels and one children’s book, and I am currently working on a sequel to the Tides.

You can also find me at alyssarossauthor.com