Read Solatium (Emanations, an urban fantasy series Book 2) Online
Authors: Becca Mills
Tags: #fantasy series, #contemporary fantasy, #speculative fiction, #adventure, #paranormal, #female protagonist, #dying earth, #female main character, #magic, #dragons, #monsters, #action, #demons, #dark fantasy, #hard fantasy, #deities, #gods, #parallel world, #urban fantasy, #fiction, #science fantasy, #alternative history
Jimena Washington:
One of Bill Gates’s people. A Nolander who can make plants grow faster.
Joanna Powell:
One of Bill Gates’s people, born in the First Emanation and unable to work essence. Wife of Kevin Powell and mother of Kite Powell.
Jobah Washington:
One of Bill Gates’s people, a Nolander water-worker.
Justine Jenson Ryder:
Beth Ryder’s sister-in-law, suspected by Cordus of being Eye of the Heavens in disguise. Her true shape appears to be a collection of floating blue balls. She is capable of workings that leave no trace in the fabric of reality. Whatever she actually is, she seems unaware that she is anything other than a normal human woman.
Kara Dolores Sanchez:
A member of Cordus’s organization. A powerful healer.
Kelly McLeod:
One of Bill Gates’s people.
Kevin Powell:
One of Bill Gates’s people. A Second tracker. Husband of Joanna Powell and father of Kite Powell.
Kite Powell:
One of Bill Gates’s people, son of Joanna and Kevin Powell. A tracker.
Koji Noguchi:
A member of Cordus’s staff.
Kye Wodor:
A major river-port city in the stratum Gold Rush. Ruled by Kekataugh.
learned working:
A working mastered through study and practice (rather than functioning automatically, like a gift). Some learned workings, such as unlocking doors, are common, but most workers never acquire many. A worker with quite a few learned workings under their belt is said to have entered the fourth caste.
Leontios:
See “John Williams.”
Lia Ryder:
One of Beth Ryder’s nieces, third daughter of Ben and Justine Ryder.
ligature:
A doorway between two different strata of the Second Emanation. Unlike straits, ligatures do not need to be opened by a power — they remain open all the time.
Limu:
A great power holding territory in the First Emanation (the Pacific Ocean, its archipelagos, and its coastal rim). Gifted in fire- and mineral-working. Styles himself “Lord.” Claims to be the true husband of the person now calling herself Justine Ryder. Claims that she stole something from him. Sent a green man bounty hunter to retrieve her.
Liz (Eliza) Raine:
A member of Cordus’s organization usually stationed in Phoenix, Arizona. A tracker.
Madisyn Ryder:
Beth’s youngest niece, fourth daughter of Ben and Justine Ryder. A Nolander who saw through very early, a sign she has little power.
maker:
A worker who creates a new stratum.
minis:
Beth Ryder’s name for a small species of dinosaur that attacked her in the Octoworld isolate.
Mizzy (Mizu) Bard:
One of Bill Gates’s people. A Nolander known to manipulate emotion with her voice.
mouse:
A friendly creature Beth Ryder found while meditating on Rib Mountain, in Wisconsin. Graham Ryzik advised her not to tell anyone about it.
Natasha Globa:
A member of Cordus’s organization based in Phoenix, Arizona.
Negus:
A great power and an émigré, born forty thousand years ago in what is now Ethiopia. Holds territory at the northern end of the southern island of Demesnes. Styles himself “Lord.”
Nolander
: A person born in the First Emanation who is able to work essence, at least to the degree of seeing through, but who is not strong enough to open a strait and emigrate to the Second Emanation. Organized by Seconds into quasi-police forces responsible for keeping the existence of the Second Emanation a secret.
Octoworld:
Beth Ryder’s label for a nameless isolate inhabited by sentient, water-working octopuses, as well as other creatures.
Okeke, Kibwe:
A Second; a member of Cordus’s organization.
the one law:
The rule that the human population of the First Emanation must not be allowed to discover the existence of the Second Emanation. Agreed upon in 1956 by a gathering of the major powers, the one law prompted the development of Nolanders as quasi-police forces to help keep the secret under wraps.
Patricia Otter:
A member of Cordus’s organization. His estate’s stable master.
power:
An essence-worker with sufficient power to open a strait between the Emanations. The strongest of powers are known as “great powers.” Powers are born among all species of plants and animals, not just humans.
quirk:
A derogatory name for a gift that strikes people as silly, useless, or weird.
Rib Mountain:
A four-mile-long quartzite ridge southwest of Wausau, Wisconsin.
Rudolph Tanner:
A high-ranking member of Cordus’s organization, in charge of the northeastern region and usually stationed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A time-twister and fire-worker.
Rykthas, Nayuspetras:
A ship’s captain. A water-worker.
Samson Gomes:
A member of Cordus’s organization, usually stationed in Phoenix, Arizona; able to change solids into liquids.
Second:
A person, animal, or other entity native to the Second Emanation.
the Second Emanation:
A multi-layered parallel world, connected to the familiar world by passageways called straits. The Second Emanation (Nolanders tend to call it the “S-Em”) was created over eons by makers of many different species. A particular maker’s creation is known as a “stratum.” Strata are connected to one another by ligatures.
seeing through:
The moment when a person who can work essence first becomes sensitive to workings and that person’s continued ability to perceive them. Seeing through half-workings means recognizing the reality beneath a disguise. Seeing through full workings means recognizing that a working is present. Seeing through marks entry into the first caste. The weakest workers — individuals such as Madisyn Ryder — will never do more than see through. Workers usually see through when about two-thirds of their total capacity has developed. Thus, the later a worker sees through, the more powerful they will be.
Serhan Kurulurmak-Sakaklur:
A Second Beth Ryder meets in Gold Rush; a member of a family of traders.
stipend:
Cordus pays Beth Ryder the basic Nolander salary of $32,000 per annum, from which monthly room and board of $2,000 is deducted. As one of the more powerful members of his organization, she could receive much more, but she would have to ask for it, which she has chosen not to do.
strait:
A passageway connecting a place in one Emanation to a place in the other. The natural state of a strait is to be closed, and it takes a great deal of power to open one up. Most straits connect two fixed places, such as the one running between Free and Bill Gates’s farm. A few are only fixed on one end and are able to connect to several different locations on the other; the strait Limu opened to send the green man to Dorf was an example of this second kind.
stratum:
A discrete portion of the Second Emanation (the plural is “strata”). Strata have been created since the earliest life arose on Earth. Many strata are not conducive to human existence. Most preserve landmasses and geological features that no longer exist in the First Emanation. Countless species no longer extant on Earth persist in various strata of the Second Emanation.
stricture:
A lasting sample of a liege’s essence embedded within the body of their vassal. Functions as a tracking device.
Sturluson, Helen:
The cover identity of an escaped fragment of the Thirsting Ground. Also known as the “Brooklyn fragment.”
Sua Chamnansatol:
A member of Cordus’s organization, usually stationed in Phoenix, Arizona. A water-worker.
sustained working:
A working invested with enough power at its creation to keep running in perpetuity. Most workings are not sustained; instead, they require a repeated or continuous input of energy.
Suzanne Dreisbach:
Beth Ryder’s next-door neighbor in Dorf, Wisconsin.
Terry Washington:
One of Bill Gates’s people. A Second; a U.S. Army veteran with expertise in firearms and ordnance. Unable to work essence.
Tezzy (Hortencia) Tolosa:
A member of Cordus’s staff. Beth Ryder’s martial arts instructor.
Theo (Theodore) Duff:
A Nolander who belongs to Cordus’s organization. A water-worker.
the Thirsting Ground:
A voracious and frightening Second Emanations entity.
Tiffany Ryder:
Beth Ryder’s oldest niece, daughter of Ben and Justine Ryder. A tracker.
unworking:
The effort to undo or destroy someone else’s working.
Williams, John:
A member of Cordus’s organization. Gifted in barrier work. Also known as “Leontios.”
Wiri, Elanora:
A Second; a member of Cordus’s organization.
working:
A full alteration of reality through the manipulation of essence. Sometimes called a “full working.”
Yellin, Lodovico:
A Second; a member of Cordus’s organization. Assigned as Beth Ryder’s second trainer.
the youngling:
A newly escaped fragment of the Thirsting Ground.
Zion:
A member of Cordus’s organization. A tracker. “Zion” is her entire name. She had it legally changed because it annoyed her to be referred to by her original full name (Zafirah Innocenté O’Sullivan-Namanworth), something Seconds tend to do.
Glossary of Places, Terms, and Individuals
Copyright 2014 Becca Mills
All rights reserved.
Cover design by
Marion Sipe
Cover photo copyright 2012 istockphoto.com/efenzi
Digital Edition 1.0 – November 30, 2014
Solatium
is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents in this book are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real.