Rain Dare, talented mage and the seventeen-year-old product of human and alien DNA, travels across the habitable upper quarter of the North American continent in a post-Great Warming, magic-seeded Earth. Accompanying her is a group of equally adventurous companions:.
It has been eighty years since aliens gifted the planet with magic. Having grown-up on an isolated island in the Pacific, Rain travels to understand how humans have coped with the extreme changes magic has wrought in the overheated world. Her alien DNA gives her advantages others donât have, and eventually she is expected to use them to help them harness their magic.
While Rain seeks knowledge, her companions, whom she calls anomalies but others call abominations, are looking for greater acceptance than they found in their home of Wolf Trap.
The arduous journey itself holds little fear for them, the same can not be said about the monsters that the dark side of magic has begun to create. As de facto leader of the group, Rain wrestles with her innate reluctance to kill and the brutal reality of kill or be killed as they travel long abandoned roads in the unexplored wilderness.
Rain Dare, talented mage and the seventeen-year-old product of human and alien DNA, travels across the habitable upper quarter of the North American continent in a post-Great Warming, magic-seeded Earth. Accompanying her is a group of equally adventurous companions:.
It has been eighty years since aliens gifted the planet with magic. Having grown-up on an isolated island in the Pacific, Rain travels to understand how humans have coped with the extreme changes magic has wrought in the overheated world. Her alien DNA gives her advantages others donât have, and eventually she is expected to use them to help them harness their magic.
While Rain seeks knowledge, her companions, whom she calls anomalies but others call abominations, are looking for greater acceptance than they found in their home of Wolf Trap.
The arduous journey itself holds little fear for them, the same can not be said about the monsters that the dark side of magic has begun to create. As de facto leader of the group, Rain wrestles with her innate reluctance to kill and the brutal reality of kill or be killed as they travel long abandoned roads in the unexplored wilderness.
It was early Saturday morning on the third day of March. I didnât need a thermometer to tell me the temperature was already nearly eighty degrees. Since the Great Warming began three centuries ago, it was always hot. Only about twenty percent of the world was habitable. When magic had been introduced to the planet almost a hundred years ago, it caused the Great Warming to peak. In a few decades, magic would finally reach the center of the Earth, owning the entire planet. Then changes to the ecosystem would accelerate. Temperatures would fall to pre-Industrial Age levels. I would feel freezing temperatures in my lifetime.
Magic had been making changes since it began saturating the Earth. One of its most drastic modifications was to make human males into shapeshifters and human females into magic manipulators or mages. In the early years of shifting, many boys had been killed before it was acknowledged as the new normal. Now any difference was viewed with suspicion and fear. I called these differences anomalies. They were precursors for more change. My companions and I were all anomalies.
My name was Rain Dare, and I was a mage. When I was seventeen, I left my home on an isolated island in the Pacific to explore the habitable world in the top half of the North American continent. There were human settlements along a four-thousand-mile route between the East and West Coasts. I had begun my exploration in the center of this route in the Clan Wolf town of Wolf Trap. I had been there for about five months when circumstances forced me to leave. But I hadnât left alone. Six intrepid companions had joined my journey to the East Coast.
Tara Jensen: a ten-year-old, the only known female shifter, an Ocelot (an anomaly); she also possessed some weak Earth/Water magic; she had short curly brown hair, russet brown eyes, and reddish tan skin.
Valery Saltwyck: a twelve-year-old prophet or clairvoyant (an anomaly); she was the daughter of the Alpha of Wolf Trap; she was also an Air/Water mage; she had blond hair, light green eyes, and lightly tan skin.
Maya Redwing: a seventeen-year-old Fire/Earth mage; she was an animal communicator (an anomaly); she had blue-black hair, gray eyes, and a medium sand skin.
Machi Jones: an eighteen-year-old Fox shifter (the only one in Wolf Trap) and bodyguard to Valery; he had dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and medium bronze skin.
Aryk Saltwyck: a nineteen-year-old Wolf shifter; Valeryâs brother; he had dark blond hair, one green eye, one blue eye (an anomaly), and medium tan skin.
Qzyx: somewhere between fifty and seventy; he canât remember what animal he used to shift to and had no magic (an anomaly); he was an ex-scavenger and talented storyteller; he had silver hair, silver-blue eyes, and bronze skin.
I was prepared to only have Tara and Qzyx with me. I had rescued them both on my way into Wolf Trap five months ago. The others, as anomalies, took their chances with me. I was more than delighted to welcome them on this long journey.
âWe want to head southeast,â I said, pointing in that direction as my little crew of adventurers followed me away from Wolf Trap.
âAlong the main road,â Machi agreed.
I shook my head. âNo. We wonât travel that road. I donât want to run into outlaws or other travelers. Weâll find one farther south.â
âHow far south?â Aryk asked.
âAbout twenty miles south of the main road. That should be far enough away not to run into anyone.â
âIt will be hot further south,â Maya observed.
âItâs already hot,â Tara added. âI think itâs hotter than yesterday.â She took off her hat and waved it at her flushed face.
âYouâre just not used to carrying a backpack filled with your belongings,â I told her. âPut your hat back on. Itâs better protection on your head than as a fan. Câmon, no more talking. Weâre burning daylight here.â
âWhat does that mean?â Tara asked. âHow can we burn the light? Doesnât the sun do that?â
âIt just means letâs get moving,â I explained patiently. I tended to forget the others werenât as well read as I was. Iâd been exposed to three caches of stored libraries growing up. I also had an eidetic memory for what I read. I naturally blurted out all kinds of obscure facts, not to show off, but because they readily came to mind.
âDonât worry about it, Tara. Thatâs an old-time expression. Iâll tell you more later when our boss lets us talk again,â Qzyx assured her. âYou stick with me, kid.â Qzyx was also surprisingly well-read considering heâd spent most of his life exploring ruins.
I wanted to get some distance from Wolf Trap, although it wouldnât take long for Wolf Trap shifters to travel whatever ground we non shifting females could cover. It had been unfair of magic to give males a greater advantage. Mages were still learning how to use their magic, whereas males could access it immediately by shifting. I knew that one day females would show greater power in manipulating magic, but we were still too far from that day. Magic was still young, wild, and not so easily tamed. I was still wrestling it into cooperation, and I had an advantage over other mages. I was born and raised differently from other humans. It had been just me and my four teachers, who I called Jardvari. I had book knowledge of the past, but little personal experience with people and situations in todayâs world.
Wolf Trap had been my first experience interacting with other people. Like all the towns along the main road between the coasts, it was medium-sized. From what Iâd been told, the two biggest cities, twice the size of Wolf Trap, were on either East or West Coasts. Since Iâd begun my exploration in a Clan Wolf town, I had to stick to Clan Wolf. There were only two choices: Clan Wolf and Clan Cat, and they were antagonistic to each other. Iâd kept Taraâs shifting abilities hidden, mostly because she wasnât expected to shift. But Aryk and Machi would be expected to shift; therefore, we had to stick to Clan Wolf.
This journey was always part of my plans. I wanted to experience and observe different human settlements. The East Coast was closer than the West Coast to Wolf Trap, and it would still take us several monthsâ travel. But I had an advantage most people didnât. I could provide almost anything we needed from my backpack. It was tied to my home base in the Pacific by greater magic than any mage possessed today. My Jardvari back home would provide us with food, clothing, and tools. All I had to do was ask through my backpack.
The first hour of our trip past the main road was arduous as we made our way through dense forests southeast. I pulled machetes out of my magic backpack and handed them to Aryk and Machi so they could cut a path for us. The rest of us hung back and followed as the path cleared. Qzyx took the rear point while the mages stayed in the middle. We were considered the least physically able or fight ready. I could argue that point, but I didnât. We mages would have plenty of time on this long trek to prove our abilities. Let the macho shifters think they could handle everything difficult for now.
After about five hours of cutting through the dense forest, we found an east-west road far enough south. Traveling by road would keep us from dangerous ruins barring our way. The remnants of old cities were good places to pick up reusable building materials or other interesting things cached there like old libraries, jewelry, coins, tools or utensils that hadnât been ruined by time and heat. But they werenât safe places to hike through. There were plenty of hazards in old ruins: tumbled or ready to tumble buildings with broken glass, sharp metal bits, hidden animal dens, or deceptive flooring that would plunge you into a deep hole. One had to walk carefully through the ruins of the past. We needed to move faster than that or weâd never reach the East Coast by summerâthe hottest, most stifling months of the yearânot an ideal travel time.
Once we reached the less densely overgrown road, my machetes were returned and Machi, in his Wolf form, took point scouting ahead. This road was an old two-lane highway, but because of the potholes, cracks, road rubble and prickly weeds, we walked only two or three together. Qzyx led the mages with Tara and Valery beside him while he entertained them with stories. Maya and I were next, with Machi guarding the rear.
âIâm glad you came with us,â I told Maya. She had had little time to consider coming along. My leaving had been more abrupt than Iâd wanted.
She smiled, but her eyes told me she wasnât confident in her decision. âI wasnât sure I would. Itâs scary leaving the safety of Wolf Trap, but I think Iâm more of a coward leaving than staying. I thought about the things you said about the Mage Corps. They were pushing us too quickly. We could all be killed when it came down to a real battle. The Mage Corps had been an exciting idea in the beginning, but the reality was troubling. I had nightmares of burning down Wolf Trap with all the fire we created.â
We had both been members of Wolf Trapâs new Mage Corps. The Alpha had gathered fifty-two of the best mages ages sixteen to twenty-one, tested us to discover our most powerful elemental ability, then whittled us down to the best forty-two to form a Mage Corps. Maya and I had been in the Fire group. For the five months Iâd been in Wolf Trap, weâd trained magically and physically in martial arts and weaponry to become a valuable battle squad in their war against Clan Cat.
I was opposed to the Alphaâs planned war with Clan Cat. I never intended to stay in Wolf Trap to see it come about, but Iâd left earlier than Iâd intended because of Tara. Sheâd shifted in the middle of Wolf Trap when some bullies had taken her butterfly necklace from herâa gift from Qzyx when weâd rescued him from hanging by a rope in a tree on our way into Wolf Trap.
Weâd been lucky that day when Qzyx had found her first and spirited her to safety in our room at the boarding house. No one else except Qzyx knew Tara could shift and was a Cat. Both were abominable to Clan Wolf. Shifting because there should be no female shifters, and Cat because they were the enemy. To protect her secrets, weâd left town abruptly.
âMaybe I said too much,â I explained. âI was making assumptions. I donât really know what the Alpha was thinking. His battle plans might be years down the road. In that case, you would all have been much better trained and experienced.â I doubted he would have waited long enough for that. Heâd been pushing the Corps to learn fast.
âI hope the fact that they lost two of their best Fire mages will halt his plans and give the other mages more time to train.â I could hear the guilt in her voice.
âI hope they all learn to meditate. It would ratchet up their powers.â Iâd tried to teach the other mages to mediate, but Maya had been my only faithful student.
âI know. Iâve been following your instructions. I feel more powerful than when the Mage Corps began. Iâd like to try out new charms, but Iâm not sure what is possible.â Charms were another name for spells, which was a taboo word. Witch was another taboo word. Religion hadnât made a major comeback yet, but Judeo-Christian prohibitions were still remembered.
âWhen we camp in the evenings, we can try some things. You should have more offensive charmsâme, too. We might need them on this journey.â
âWill we see more giant rats, snakes, and birds of prey?â
âSomething like that.â
During our time in the Mage Corps, the training camp had been almost overrun by rats, a snake and a raptor, all much larger than normal. Maya had heard the raptorâs thoughts, which was an anomalous skill. Animal communication was a higher-level magic ability. I was looking for signs of higher-level magic along with anomalies like Taraâs ability to shift and Valeryâs prophecy. I was surprised to find several representations in Wolf Trap. I didnât think finding anomalies would be so easy, especially when I wasnât meant to seek them out until I was older and more experienced.
âHave you tried any more communication with animals?â I asked.
âIâno, not really. I was worried animals might follow me around if they thought I could understand them.â
âIâm not sure most animals are smart enough to identify the communicator. I suppose it might depend on how powerful you become. Being aware of their thoughts in pictures as you are and placing your own thoughts in their heads may be two different skills. You might try practicing on our shifters first. Of course, that might not be an adequate test since they will retain their humanity in their animal form and might communicate differently than a normal animal,â I said thoughtfully.
âIâll think about it.â
âIt will take us months to reach Wolf Haven. On the road is your best chance to fully explore your unique skills,â I urged. It could be a tedious journey without some distractions.
âI know, Rain. Give me time to think about it. I donât like to be rushed,â she objected.
âFair enough. Letâs get closer to Qzyx. Heâs telling the girls stories. Heâs a great storyteller.â Iâd shut up for now. She was here. That was the important thing.
During the nine hours we traveled that first day, either Aryk or Machi scouted ahead in their animal forms. Even though he was a Fox, Machi was only about fifty pounds lighter than the three hundred pounds of Arykâs wolf form. Shifters were much bigger than their animal counterparts and reached sizes comparable to the Cat forms. Clan Wolf was composed of Canidae shifters: Wolves, Foxes and Coyotes on this continent, Wolves being the dominant form. Clan Cat was composed of many types of Cat shifters, Jaguars, Cougars, Panthers, and others. Jaguars were the largest on this continent.
Although theyâd separated as natural enemies from their inception, I knew Clan Wolf and Clan Cat should be allies. They were allowing their animal sideâs xenophobia and distrust to dominate their attitudes. I didnât expect them to be best friends, but I did expect alliances, not wars. It would be important to their future survival.
***
We hadnât stopped for lunch when we reached the road. Everyone had brought some food with them. We ate what we had at hand while walking. Aryk and I took rear point.
âAre we going to find little used roads all the way to our destination?â he asked.
âYes.â I tapped my head. âI have a good map right here.â
âThatâs lucky for us.â
âItâs not luck. I always planned to explore the habitable parts of this continent. I studied the area through maps. I actually started on the West Coast, but decided those towns were too large to begin my explorations. Wolf Trap is half the size of those places. Not too large and not too small. A Goldilocks town.â
âGoldilocks?â He wrinkled his nose.
âIt means just right. Itâs a childrenâs story about a little girl named Goldilocks and three bears.â
âWe might find bears out here.â
âBears are the least of our worries.â
âI donât know about that. A brown bear can be as large as thirteen hundred pounds. A black bear can be up to six hundred pounds. They wouldnât be easy for Machi and I to take down.â
âWeâd all help you.â
âYouâve only been training a few months and youâve no experience. You and Maya would be better out of the way.â
âThanks for the vote of confidence. There might be something magical we can do.â
âYou mean light it on fire?â
âThat is the only offensive magic Iâve practiced,â I said. I hadnât given fighting bears a thought, but Iâd rather not harm a bear. Humans had always been interlopers in nature. In the past, weâd pushed out or killed the native inhabitants and built inhospitable areas of glass, steel and concrete. I didnât want to be one of those invaders that plundered and pillaged. I wanted to be a friend to the natural world, which was magicâs goal in healing the Earth.
âWouldnât you set everything around us on fire?â
âProbably. Fire would be a great offensive magic if it couldnât endanger us all.â
âHave you considered any other types of offensive magic?â
âNot really. I never had the need. Most of my practice growing up had been in defensive charms to protect myself. I never gave a thought to willy-nilly killing everything in my path.â
âWilly-nilly?â He grinned.
âItâs an old term. Shakespeare used it as will he, nill he. It means haphazard or unplanned.â
âNow youâre throwing Shakespeare at me. I never understood a word of his plays.â
âBut you tried to read them?â
âSure. I was friends with our librarian. She let me take out books sometimes. But I couldnât do it often because my father didnât approve of fiction or drama. He wanted everyone to read useful books to work machinery again.â
âWhat sort of things did you read?â
âFolklore, myths, and fairy tales. Iâm prepared to meet dragons, goblins and trolls on this trip.â He winked.
âGet that out of your head right now. I donât want magic to get any ideas.â Iâd spoken to him some time ago about magic creating monsters. That was a little tidbit I needed to share with the others before too long.
âYou talk of magic as if it could understand us.â
âI think it is aware of us, but can it read our minds, see our thoughts, take things from our heads and recreate them? I hope not, but Iâm afraid thatâs a forlorn hope.â
âForlorn. I like that word, too. Forlorn, willy-nilly. What sort of charm could you use if not fire to stop an attacking bear? Try me. How would you stop me?â
âWhat?â
âI havenât forgotten what we were willy-nilly talking about. If you donât want a bear killed and you canât use fire against it, how would you stop it?â
I looked at him in surprise. I didnât like the idea of killing, but I hadnât thought about just stopping an attacker without harm. I would like to stop a bear without killing it, but I couldnât be as lenient with monsters if they were set on killing people.
âI donât know,â I said. âI donât like the idea of experimenting on my companions.â
âIâm tough. I can take it,â he challenged.
He was right to test my offensive abilities. Protection was more than preventing harm to my companions, it was also about ending threats to anyone.
âI canât come up with ideas on demand. I need time to think about it.â I was terrible at quick thinking. I always needed deliberation before acting.
âOkay. I donât mean to pressure you. You offered magical skills if we had to fight a bear. I just wondered what you could do except light it on fire.â
âYouâre right. I said that. I need to back that up with concrete ideas. Iâll get back to you on that.â
âOkay. Iâll give it some thought, too.â
When Iâd thought it would just be Tara and me on this journey, wards were my answer to every danger. They were passive, protective magic as Iâd practiced them. I needed to think of magical charms I could use if it came down to a fight that required more than swords or claws. That could be very important if magicâs dark side was becoming more active. I didnât want to see goblins, dragons or trolls come to be, but I had to be prepared in case they did. And I had to prepare my companions for the same. When we stopped for the night, I would give them some warning. It was only fair.
***
We were making the best time we could, considering the miles of forest weâd been cutting through, but we were still only about thirty miles southeast from Wolf Trap when I sensed an excellent water source and led everyone there to camp for the night. There was still plenty of light to set up camp and prepare, eat and clean dinner detritus before dark. I would feel better when everyone was settled behind my ward before nightfall.
It was a small lake. The water wasnât too bad, but I used a purifying charm to make it better. Our two shifters set out to hunt for some meat for dinner. I sent Valery and Tara to gather firewood, and clean our campsite of rocks and sticks, while Qzyx, Maya and I looked for edible plants. If we didnât find enough food, Iâd pull some out of my backpack.
While the others handled their jobs, I set my ward stones in a large circle to form our protected camp for the night. My stones had been prepared before my initial journey had begun, six months ago. They were infused with my blood to keep them potent and readily usable. Body fluids made the best wards, but blood rather than sweat, tears, saliva, snot, pus or urine was the best choice. A ward using my stones also lasted longer than wards of elemental magic alone. Magic didnât understand permanency yet and had to be reinforced often to stay secure.
Aryk and Machi caught, skinned and diced the rabbits, they brought for the stew. Maya, Qzyx and I had gathered wild onions, mushrooms, carrots, watercress, spinach, garlic, walnuts, and potatoes. Magic had enabled most old world food stuff to grow wild now.
I added salt, pepper and vegetable broth from my backpack to the stew pot of vegetables. I cooked the onions, garlic and mushrooms in a frying pan first, then added them to the stew. After that, I seared the meat. Before adding that to the stew, I removed my portion from the pot. I was a vegetarian and didnât eat once living sensing creatures. I could disassociate myself from the meat to cook it, but I couldnât eat it. I would gag if I tried.
I pulled all crockery and utensils we needed from my backpack. So far, nobody questioned anything I took from it, but I could see some very surprised and quizzical glances my way.
I pulled two loaves of bread from my backpack as well, broke off a hunk, and passed the rest around. Everyone was hungry, but we had plenty to eat and finished it all. I pulled apples out of my backpack for dessert. I was fond of apples. They were easy to eat and plentiful at home.
Once finished, I charmed the dishes clean and put them away. I got some interested looks from Maya and Tara. I would have to teach them some cleaning charms during our journey.
It was just getting dark when all was tidy. Once everyone was back in my circular camp area, I explained about the ward stones. Everyone took turns relieving themselves in the woods before I set the ward. I let it shine as a red wall for a few seconds so they could clearly see the boundaries.
âThis is my ward. It will surround our camp all night. It will act as if we were in a sturdy building with a roof, locks, solid door, and covered windows. Nothing will be able to pass the wardâs boundaries except air. Nothing will see, hear or smell us in here. But we will see, hear and smell them. They wonât know weâre here,â I assured them.
âThatâs some ward,â Qzyx said.
âIt is. Iâve practiced making wards for years. I can create elemental wards on the fly, but for a long-lasting stationary ward, blood is best. My stones are infused with my blood.â
âHow did you do that?â Machi asked.
âWhy donât we wait to hear what Rain wants to tell us before asking questions,â Aryk advised. He didnât actually smile at me, but his lips twitched as if he wanted to. I was grateful he didnât produce a full smile. I was a sucker for his dimples. They made me want to grin foolishly right back.
âI want to tell you a few important things. First, for your own protection. Second, we need to trust one another. Keeping you in the dark wonât help you trust me. I may not always have answers to your questions, but I will tell you everything I can,â I promised.
I looked at the eager faces around me. There was already trust developing between most of us. I would tell them what they needed to hear and what I thought they should know, but not everything. It wouldnât be good for our relationship for them to know everything about me yet.
âIâm pleased and grateful that you all came with me. The biggest towns are on the coasts and thatâs where I want to travel. But this journey weâre making to the East Coast will take months and wonât be pleasant for one reason, especially.â I looked around at them, all waiting expectantly.
In what I thought to be a nondramatic way, I announced. âThere will be monsters.â
Monsters and Rain is the second book in the Rain's Quest series.
Earth has succumbed to global warming, and the world as we know it has changed drastically. When humanity was about to collapse, magic was introduced to the world, which has stopped the effects of global warming and is slowly counteracting it.
In Monsters and Rain, Rain Dare, a 17-year-old mage, is on a mission to unite a world divided and teach other mages how to utilise their powers to their full potential. As magic is still relatively new to Earth, its effects on the world are unknown, and people are still coming to terms with it. Magic has changed people: half are shifters, and the other half are mages. Trying to understand Earth's magic and the monsters it has created puts her and her fellow travellers at risk daily.
What I loved
Rain is a loveable character. She respects every being she comes in contact with. She keeps an open mind and is honest about her limitations â instead of dwelling on her mistakes, she sees them as a learning opportunity.
I enjoyed Grey's take on magic and the dystopian twist she added to the Rain Quest series. Aliens ending global warming by injecting magic into the Earth's crust is such an interesting way of introducing this version of Earth, magic, and magic's current limitations. Magic is spoken of as a living thing, something they must understand and forge a connection with to use it.
"This is a dangerous world we live in â not that the past didn't have its dangers, but we don't have the protection or weapons the old world had. Why don't we have guns and rifles like we did in the past?"
"Magic doesn't like them," was the only answer I could think of.
I also liked Grey's take on shifters and the monsters Rain and her crew encounter along the way. Unlike the typical werewolf who can hardly control when they turn and how they act, in Rain and Monsters, shifters can be wolves, foxes, leopards, ocelots, etc. and are in complete control of their actions once turned. The monsters they encounter can be giant wasps, killer trees, or a Frankenstein-type creation. They can also appear human. Long story short, nobody and nothing can be trusted!
What I didn't love
The story was a bit drawn out: there was a lot of repetition. I also wish there was more information on Rainâs background. Iâve read both books but still have so many questions.
Conclusion
Rain and Monsters is an easy and enjoyable read. Therefore, I recommend this book to middle-grade/young adult readers who enjoy a slow-paced magical adventure.
Before purchasing Monsters and Rain, I would start with the first in the series, Fire and Rain. However, book one could be omitted, as some of the events in Fire and Rain are referred to in Monsters and Rain.