Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hammerstein is at the cusp of finishing high school in his hometown of Los Alamos, NM. He has a seemingly ideal life and is blessed with loving parents, a cute baby sister, and great friends. Nicholas is a gifted student and martial artist who has dreams of leaving for college at the end of his senior year. But, living in a world of Emergent humans, he will soon find his life turned upside down as his life and the fate of a kingdom hang in the balance. His future and theirs will be determined by how he navigates the drastic changes in his body and the magical and superpowered Mergent population he joins.

Forged in Battle
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

“Sometimes I can’t believe that I put up with this bullshit,” said Bo, feeling as mad as all hell. “So, you saved my life. But that does not mean that you take advantage. Even a lifesaver can be a stubborn dickhead sometimes, deserving of a good tongue lashing.” Bo’s tongue shot out.

I awoke to the smell of eggs and bacon, my dad's favorite way to start the day. I'd intended to stay up and wait for him to come home but I was too exhausted after the day I'd had.

I dreaded going downstairs to meet him. I didn't know how he'd react. We hadn't spent much time together since I came back home insisting I was now his daughter.

I knew I'd always been a bit of a disappointment. I never really enjoyed the same things he did. He'd tried to get me interested in football, he'd wanted to teach me how to properly handle and shoot a gun.