Novels by Dep Flair

If anything, it felt worse. Heavier. Like the walls were watching.Duncan was already up. Checking supplies. Planning their route through the rest of Zone Three."We need to reach the far side of the fortress," he said. "The path to Zone Four starts there. Should take most of the day to navigate through.""Through?" Princess Elysande asked. "Not around?""The fortress is built into the mountain. Only way forward is through the interior passages. The exterior paths collapsed centuries ago.""So we're going deeper into this place.""Yes.""Wonderful."They packed quickly. Ate standing up. No one wanted to linger.The fortress felt different in daylight. Less dark but more ominous. Shadows moved wrong. Sounds echoed strangely.Duncan led them into the depths. Following his map. Following markings on the walls."Someone mapped this place before," he said. "Old markers. Centuries old. But still readable.""The Seven?" Princess Elysande asked."Maybe. Or others who came after. Either way, w

The fortress stood halfway up the mountain. Built into the rock itself. Stone construction that predated the Empire by centuries.Massive walls. Crumbling towers. Battlements that had once held defenders.All of it abandoned. Ancient. Waiting."Zone Three," Princess Elysande breathed. "The ruins."Duncan studied it through a spyglass. "Bigger than I expected. Must have housed hundreds. Maybe thousands.""Who built it?" Draven asked."No one knows. It was here before the Empire. Before recorded history. Just... here."They approached carefully. The path leading to the fortress was wide. Well-maintained once. Now cracked and broken.But still passable.As they got closer, Draven saw details. The walls weren't just stone. They were carved. Covered in symbols and images.Warriors. Weapons. Battles.And above them all, wings. Fire. Massive creatures in flight.Dragons.Princess Elysande ran her hand along the carvings. "This whole fortress is a monument. A record. Of the battle.""Or a war

The second day in Zone Two started badly.Weather changed overnight. Clear skies replaced by grey clouds. Temperature dropped twenty degrees.Wind howled across the mountain face. Strong enough to push against them. Make balance difficult."We should wait," Mira said. "Storm's coming. Moving in these conditions is suicide."Duncan checked the sky. The clouds. The wind direction. "Storm won't pass for days. We wait, we lose time. Supplies run low. We push through.""That's insane.""Maybe. But staying here isn't safer. This cave isn't deep enough. If the storm gets worse, we're exposed.""And if we're caught on the path?""Then we find shelter fast. Keep moving until we do."Princess Elysande shouldered her pack. "I agree with Duncan. We keep going.""Your Highness—""We didn't come all this way to turn back because of weather."Mira looked at Draven. "You have an opinion?"He did. Several. But arguing wouldn't change anything."Let's move. But carefully. First sign of real danger, we

Zone Two looked nothing like Zone One.No twisted trees. No cursed forest. Just bare mountain. Stone and cliff face. Narrow paths carved into rock.And height. So much height.Draven looked up at the path ahead. It hugged the mountainside. Barely three feet wide in places. One wrong step meant a fall. A long fall."That's our route?" he asked.Duncan nodded. "Only path to the midpoint. The fortress in Zone Three is built into the mountain halfway up. This is how we reach it.""There's no other way?""Not unless you can fly."Princess Elysande checked her gear. Secured her pack tighter. "I've climbed before. Training exercises. But nothing this high.""Training exercises have safety ropes," Duncan said. "This doesn't. So we move carefully. Slowly. No rushing. No showing off."He looked directly at Draven with that last part."I'm not planning to show off.""Good. Because one mistake up there and you're dead. And probably taking someone else with you."They started the ascent.The first

The forest remained twisted. Silent. Wrong.They packed quickly. Ate standing up. No one wanted to linger."How much further through this zone?" Princess Elysande asked.Duncan checked his map. Cross-referenced with landmarks. "Half a day. Maybe less if we move fast. The mountain proper starts beyond the forest edge.""Then let's move."They walked deeper into the woods. The trees growing even more distorted. Some bent completely sideways. Others grew in spirals. Unnatural. Disturbing."Magic did this," Mira said quietly. "Old magic. Powerful magic. Changed the very nature of the forest.""From the battle?" Draven asked."Maybe. Or from whatever they were fighting."Princess Elysande stopped at one particularly twisted tree. Its trunk formed a complete loop before continuing upward."I've never seen anything like this. Not in any text. Not in any records.""That's because most people who come here don't leave," Duncan said. "The locals won't even speak about this place. Consider it cu

They reached Drakmoor Peak at midday.The mountain rose from the landscape like a scar. Dark stone. Sharp edges. Clouds gathering around the summit even though the sky elsewhere was clear.And at its base, the forest.Draven saw immediately what the locals meant. The trees were wrong.They twisted. Bent at unnatural angles. Branches reached toward the ground instead of the sky. Bark had strange patterns carved into it. Not by tools. By something else.The air felt different too. Heavy. Thick. Like breathing through wet cloth."This is it," Princess Elysande said. Her voice was quiet. Awed. "Zone One. The Watching Woods."Duncan dismounted. Studied the forest edge. "We leave the horses here. They won't go further.""Why not?""Animals know better than people. They sense danger. Won't cross into cursed ground.""You believe it's cursed?""I believe something's wrong here. That's enough." Duncan started unloading supplies from his horse. "We carry what we need. Leave the rest. If we're n

Thornton Industries occupied three floors of a downtown tower. The kind of space that didn't need to announce wealth. Michael checked security twice before arriving, which was caution more than paranoia.Claire's office was minimalist. Expensive minimalist, but still sparse. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Hudson, a desk that probably cost more than a car, and absolutely nothing personal on display. The kind of office designed to intimidate without trying."Thank you for coming," Claire said, standing to shake his hand. She wore all black today, which made her look even younger and somehow more dangerous. "I know our meeting yesterday was unconventional.""You crashed a board meeting and torpedoed my brother's bid for power. That's past unconventional into strategic territory."Claire smiled. "Fair assessment. Sit, please."Michael sat across from her, and something flickered at the edge of his awareness. A sensation he hadn't felt in months. A whisper of something that felt

The emergency board meeting felt like a firing squad. Twelve board members, all watching Michael and Eric with the kind of careful neutrality that meant they'd already chosen sides but didn't want to show their cards yet.Eric stood at the head of the conference table, looking every inch the concerned son and responsible executive. He'd probably rehearsed this presentation for weeks."Thank you all for coming on short notice," Eric began. "I've called this meeting because we face a crisis that can't wait. My father's health has deteriorated to the point where continuing as CEO puts both him and the company at risk."He pulled up medical reports, hospital records, documentation of Richard's struggles over the past months. None of it was fabricated—that was the genius of it. Eric was using real problems to justify removing their father from power."The question isn't whether we love and respect Richard Crawford," Eric continued. "The question is whether it's responsible to let someone i

Maxwell Hughes's office occupied the top floor of a glass tower in Midtown, all clean lines and expensive furniture that screamed "medical innovation with venture capital backing." Michael had done his research on the drive over. Hughes had founded three biotech startups, sold two for massive profits, and currently ran a company that specialized in experimental treatments for neurological conditions.The kind of treatments that existed in the gray area between cutting-edge medicine and regulatory gambling.The receptionist showed Michael into a conference room with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Manhattan. Hughes was already there, standing at the glass with his back to the door."Mr. Crawford. Thank you for coming." Hughes turned, extended his hand. Mid-fifties, silver hair, the kind of polished confidence that came from winning more bets than you lost. "I know our previous interactions haven't been... ideal."Michael shook his hand, noted the firm grip designed to communicate

Crawford Manor felt different in daylight. Less imposing, more tired. The estate that had witnessed three generations of Crawford ambition now felt like a stage where the actors had forgotten their lines.Michael's car crunched up the gravel drive. His father had called the meeting for two in the afternoon, giving both sons time to arrive separately. Strategic, as always. Richard Crawford didn't do anything without purpose.Eric's Range Rover was already parked near the main entrance. Michael felt his jaw tighten. Forty-eight hours since the board suspension, and his brother was still fighting. Still scheming. The desperation would make him more dangerous, not less.Inside, the study smelled like old leather and older money. Richard sat in his usual chair, looking stronger than he had at the hospital but still carrying the weight of his health scare. Eric stood by the window, arms crossed, radiating barely contained fury."Sit down, both of you," Richard said. Not a request.Michael t

Michael spent the next morning doing damage control. Conference calls with key board members. Reassurances to nervous investors. Carefully worded statements to the press about "internal governance reviews" that meant absolutely nothing and everything at once.By noon, he was exhausted. Not from the work, but from the constant performance. Every conversation required calibration. Every word needed to be measured against how it might be used against him later.His assistant buzzed. "Mr. Crawford? Kylie Crawford is here. She says it's urgent."Michael straightened. Kylie. His protégé, the brilliant Columbia senior he'd been mentoring since his father's birthday celebration. The kid who'd gone on national television and publicly credited him with inspiring her unconventional path."Send her in."Kylie walked in looking different from the poised student he'd seen in her TV interview. She wore jeans and a Columbia hoodie, but there was something harder in her expression. She carried her bat

The aftermath felt like walking through a bombed-out building. Everything looked the same from the outside, but the foundations had shifted in ways that would take months to fully understand.Michael stood in his office, watching through the window as Eric's Range Rover peeled out of the underground garage. His brother's departure wasn't graceful. Wasn't dignified. Just angry and desperate and completely ruined."He left his laptop," Olivia said from the doorway. "Security found it in the boardroom. Still logged in."Michael turned. "What's on it?""Everything we already knew about Thornton. But also..." She hesitated. "Draft communications he never sent. Plans that go way beyond what we exposed today.""Show me."They moved to Michael's private conference room. Olivia connected Eric's laptop to the display screen, and Michael felt his blood run cold.Eric hadn't just been planning to facilitate a Thornton acquisition. He'd been planning to systematically dismantle Crawford Enterprise