The Bone Tree

by T.A. Miles

"The souls of the dead seek release."   Ma Shou, disgraced mystic of Sheng Fan, is captured by imperial forces during the Southern Campaign of the Celestial Year 279 and sentenced to stay at the school on the top of Mount Ding Fa.

Having spent months in the presence of the necromancer, Lei Kui, Ma Shou feels that the darkness of the shunned mystic has followed him. It is hoped that the Supreme Astralmancer Che Wen Tai will be able to sever the threads of the necromancer's enchantment, but they seem spun of the essence of the Spirit of Death itself, and they seem to be pulling Ma Shou ever nearer to the depths of the Infernal Regions.

All the while, the mysterious Bone Tree looms over the school, promising the ruination of the land and the destruction of its people. For Ma Shou, it is a beacon, a marker at the gates of the eternal prison of the damned. The souls of the dead seek release.

In the summer of the Celestial Year 280, Ma Shou disappeared from the school on Mount Ding Fa without a trace.

56 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 30, 2016

About the author

T.A. Miles is a being owned by curiosity and fueled by internal magic. She claims to have fallen down a rabbit hole as a child, but in reality seems to be living in a semi-permanent out-of-body experience where she meets fantastical people and magical creatures in lands unknown to earth. She believes her characters are real people, and she publishes for one reason only: to share these people and the experiences they relay in carefully constructed stories unmarred by common human perception. Which sounds very complicated. It's easier to say she prefers to write about exceptionally human experiences.

Let's not try to explain that, actually. It's simpler to read one of her books instead. Remember to read with your head and your soul.

Reviews

[Rosemary Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a somewhat dark offshoot story from the Celestial Empire series. The main character, Ma Shou was encountered in the Six Celestial Swords as an assassin to Xu Liang, in an attempt to prevent the recovery of the Celestial Swords and allowing them to be brought back to the Fanase homeland.
He burnt due to a reversal of his Pyro spell, falling in a river. He was pulled out by the necromancer and his undead companions. Surviving long enough to have his injuries healed, he fled, only to come across Xu Liang ' s army. In return for information on the necromancer, he was moved to the School of the Seven Mystics, as he was not strong enough in body or spirit to survive the journey back to the Imperial City. This is where this story begins. I have voluntarily submitted this review after reading an advanced copy of this novella.