About
articles • book quests • news • library
reviews • podcast • gifts • archives
Crew manifest Faith statement FAQs
All author resources Lorehaven Guild Subscribe for free

When The English Fall
Reviews, May 20, 2022

Realm Makers Bookstore Returns to Orlando for FPEA Conference, May 26–28
News, May 19, 2022

112. How Does Fiction Help Us Love Our Enemies Even If We Must Defeat Them?
Fantastical Truth Podcast, May 17, 2022

Library

Find fantastical Christian novels

fantasy · sci-fi · and beyond
middle grade · young adult · grown-ups
All novels Search Add a novel
Vivid, Ashley Bustamante
My Soul to Take, Bryan Davis
Into Shadow's Fire, Mark Castleberry
Deceived, Madisyn Carlin
Arena (2022 edition), Karen Hancock
Kurt Nickle-Dickle of Whiskers, N. J. McLagan
"In a city where debts are paid in blood, one young man will learn that everyone needs help sometimes if they want to survive." New in the Lorehaven library: A Matter of Blood, Lauren H Salisbury
Son of the Shield, Mary Schlegel
Maxine Justice, Galactic Attorney, Daniel Schwabauer
Mordizan, Alyssa Roat
Prentice Ash, Matt Barron
Etania's Calling, M. H. Elrich
The Choice, Bradley Caffee
The Obsidian Butterfly, Lani Forbes
Reviews

Find fantastical Christian reviews

All reviews Request review

When The English Fall
“When The English Fall tells a bittersweet tale of community and commitment that plunges fearlessly into hard questions about the end of the world.”
—Lorehaven on May 20, 2022

Clawing Free
“Clawing Free is an absorbing tale that seamlessly joins modernity and myth.”
—Lorehaven on May 13, 2022

Vivid
“Ashley Bustamante’s Vivid paints a world built on secrets and carefully controlled color palettes.”
—Lorehaven on May 6, 2022

Prophet
“If great fiction dares explore culture wars, it must show more than perfect people smiling before a flat backdrop. Frank E. Peretti’s 1992 novel Prophet reflects this reality.”
—Lorehaven on May 4, 2022

Book Quests

Join quests in our digital book club

All book quests
Lorehaven Guild Faith statement FAQs

Maxine Justice: Galactic Attorney
Book Quests, May 2022

The Green Ember
Book Quests, April 2022

The Seventh Sun
Book Quests, March 2022

Power On
Book Quests, February 2022

Podcast

Get the Fantastical Truth podcast

Podcast sponsors | Subscribe links
Archives Feedback

112. How Does Fiction Help Us Love Our Enemies Even If We Must Defeat Them?
Fantastical Truth, May 17, 2022

111. Why Do Your Kids Need Fantastical Stories for God’s Glory?
Fantastical Truth, May 10, 2022

110. Could We Enter a ‘Golden Age’ of Christian-Made Fantastical Fiction?
Fantastical Truth, May 3, 2022

109. How Should Local Churches Support Christian-Made Fantasy?
Fantastical Truth, Apr 26, 2022

Gifts

Find new gifts for Christian fans

Browse back issues (2018–2020)

Order back issues online!

The original SpecFaith: est. 2006

site archives | statement of faith
Articles Questions? Writers

Yes, Speculative Faith Is Closed, At Least For Now
E. Stephen Burnett, Dec 30

Last Stands, Custer, General Gordon, and Being a Christian Warrior
Travis Perry, Jul 2

How Christian Must Christian Fiction Be?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, May 24

Gender In Fiction: The Implication Of Failure
Rebecca LuElla Miller, May 10

Making a Story Visual UPDATE: Behind the Scenes of the Animal Eye Comic
Travis Perry, May 9

What Does “Woke” Culture Have To Do With Christian Fiction?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Apr 26

About
Library
Reviews
Podcast
Gifts
Guild
Archives
SpecFaith
Lorehaven helps Christian fans explore fantastical stories for Christ’s glory: fantasy, science fiction, and beyond. Articles, the library, reviews, podcasts, gifts, and the Lorehaven Guild community help fans discern and enjoy the best Christian-made fantastical stories, applying their meanings to the real world Jesus Christ calls us to serve. Subscribe free to get any updates you choose and to access the Lorehaven Guild.
Subscribe free to Lorehaven
/ Magazines / Fall 2020

Seventh City, prologue

In Lorehaven’s new fall 2020 issue, read the prologue from Emily Hayse’s award-winning Arctic fantasy novel Seventh City.
Emily Hayse | No comments

The last time I saw my mother, she told me a story.

I was five the summer the nomads came to camp near Tansilet. Rangy men, most of them, occasionally with a wife: solemn-faced women with braids, some dark, some fair, but all with that restless, hooded-eyed look that the traveling people wore.

I mistrusted and envied them at the same time. I did not have to be old to know that my own family was unhappy. Especially my mother, since I did not have a father.

One of the nomads came to visit us—a tall fellow with a face that was almost handsome, despite his large chin—and I was tired and restless after he left.

Tsanu was out hunting.

My mother took me on her lap because I was cross. I still remember the sweet smell of her neck and her breath as she spoke. “Little one, why are you so unhappy?”

“I want a story,” I told her.

“Then I shall tell you my favorite.”

I settled in, leaning against her soft shoulder, the skin of her neck cool against my face. The day was warm and I was glad that we were inside, in the shade.

“Long ago, there were six great cities in Uniap’nik, rich with silver and whale oil and nanuk furs, but there were legends told of a seventh, greater than them all—the place where the heroes dwell. It was called Inik Katsuk, and it was closed to all but those who proved themselves worthy.”

“What is it like?” I asked.

She leaned back and closed her eyes as if she could see it.

“Beautiful!”

“How beautiful?”

Her hands, warm and gentle, played in my hair, twisting it into little braids. “As bright as the stars in the sky, as shining as the sun on the stream, as vast as the far mountains. It was a place that all men wished to find, but few did.”

“And the good people live there?”

“Yes.” Her voice was very soft. “The good live there.”

I reached up and touched her face. My mother was beautiful, with her soft skin and dark eyes and full lips. I wanted to look like her when I grew up.

“Someday, I will go to Inik Katsuk,” I declared.

She looked down at me and her face was wistful. I did not know why then, but the memory of it now still hurts deep inside me. “Will you, little one?”

I nodded. Adventures were my favorite thing at that age. “Will you be there, Aaga?” I asked.

Her hand caressed my face. “To be sure, little one.”

I snuggled further into her arms.

“We will go together . . . .”

The sun was warm, and she hummed to me under her breath, and that is the last memory I have of my mother.

 

I sensed the difference the moment I woke up. The sun was still shining, but I felt the change in the day. It was nearing evening, and I could smell meat cooking.

“Aaga, what is supper?” I remember asking before I came around the side of the hides we had stacked on a basket. “Aaga?”

She was not there. It was my brother Tsanu who knelt in front of the fire, feeding it with sticks to keep the flame strong.

“Maki! You are awake!” He turned and reached out his arms to me in a kind, protective way. I knew immediately that something was wrong.

“Where is Aaga?” I demanded, drawing back from him.

A cloud crossed his proud, twelve-year-old face and he only gestured with his hand. I stood my ground, panic welling up in me. “Where is Aaga?”

His eyes went my face and then dropped to the skins of the two rabbits he had brought back. “She is—gone, Maki.”

“Gone? Where?”

He shrugged. There was finality in his tone, and I knew that wherever she had gone, she was not coming back.

I turned and ran out of the house, shouting for my mother, hoping that if I just ran fast enough, I would catch her. I ran into the camp of nomads, searching around their smoking fires, calling for her, calling and calling her name.

One of the women came over, looking at me with faint concern. “It must be the child of the woman who left with Tassit,” she said, crouching down to look into my face, her long arm draped over her knee. “They say her man was killed by the Invaders on the coast five years ago.”

“Where is my aaga? Have you seen her?” I screamed, panic making me hysterical.

She leaned closer, speaking louder as if that would help. “Do not blame your aaga. It’s a rough life, losing your man, being alone.”

I did not understand her. I only knew that my mother was gone and I had to find her.

“Maki!” It was Tsanu, looking for me. I ran to him.

I remember crying. I do not remember being hysterical, as Tsanu said I was. But I remember his strong arms around me as my tears soaked his shoulder, his smell that of the wild air and pine he had been hunting in all day, his voice vibrating against me as he spoke. “Maki, I am sorry. Maki, I am so, so sorry.” I clung to him tighter, and his arms pressed me closer. “I tried to stop her, I went after her—but—she had to go.”

He peeled me off him and looked me in the eyes. I had to wipe the tears away just to see him.

“Maki, I swear to you that I will not leave you. Do you hear me? And you will not starve.” His voice cracked, but there were no tears.

It was only in hindsight that I realized he was trying not to cry himself.

“We will survive. You and me. Together.”

More from Lorehaven’s fall 2020 cover story

  • Novelist Emily Hayse explores her story’s themes of grief and letting go.
  • Seventh City, featured review
  • Seventh City, prologue
Emily Hayse is a lover of log cabins, strong coffee, NASCAR, and the smell of old books. Her writing is fueled by good characters and a lifelong passion for storytelling. When she is not busy turning words into worlds, she can often be found baking, singing, or caring for one of the many dogs and horses in her life. She lives with her family in Michigan.
Website | Twitter |
Emily Hayse
Emily Hayse is a lover of log cabins, strong coffee, NASCAR, and the smell of old books. Her writing is fueled by good characters and a lifelong passion for storytelling. When she is not busy turning words into worlds, she can often be found baking, singing, or caring for one of the many dogs and horses in her life. She lives with her family in Michigan.
Website · Instagram · Twitter

Share your fantastical feedback. Cancel reply

Lorehaven magazine, spring 2020

Wear the wonder:
Get exclusive shirts and beyond

Listen to Lorehaven’s podcast

Authors and publishers:
Reach new fans with Lorehaven


Lorehaven helps Christian fans explore fantastical stories for Christ’s glory: fantasy, science fiction, and beyond. Articles, the library, reviews, podcasts, gifts, and the Lorehaven Guild community help fans discern and enjoy the best Christian-made fantastical stories, applying their meanings to the real world Jesus Christ calls us to serve. Subscribe free to get any updates you choose and to access the Lorehaven Guild.