STRENGTH ISN'T FOUND IN THE LIGHT. IT'S FORGED IN THE DARK.
Liya Walker has never been strong. She is bullied at school, chastised at home, and bound to a boyfriend who uses her fear as leverage to keep her under his control. She dreams of escaping the small town of Carson City, but years of pain have taught her one brutal truth: she is too fragile to make it on her own. She survives each day by staying small, hiding when she can, and never fighting back.
Until she meets her new neighbor. Matt is unlike any man she has ever met. When he looks at her, she feels exposed, like he's seeing straight into her and measuring what's hidden there. When he speaks, his words cut even deeper, slicing through every defense she has carefully built. So when he shatters the one core belief she has clung to her entire life, Liya's world doesn't just crack. It burns.
And in the wreckage, something ancient stirs. The A'hura, a mystical force that connects every living soul, brands her as one of its chosen. The ritual sends a shockwave across the multiverse, exposing her to powerful races who want to own her, kill her, or twist her into a weapon for a war she never knew existed.
Matt becomes Liya's only shield against her new reality. But his protection comes at a price. He demands that she learn to stand on her own. He pushes her past her fear. He forces her to confront the past she's tried to bury, and the shadows she is too afraid to face alone.
Because the most dangerous thing awakening in Liya isn't the power of the A'hura. It's the darkness in her own mind. And if she cannot learn to control it, she won't just become a casualty of the war. She'll become something far worse.
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The Search for Liya: A Shards of Darkness Prequel
He has traveled across hundreds of worlds in search of her. Follow his journey.
About the Author
Victoria Aurora Cole
Victoria is a Cleveland-based fantasy writer whose debut novel has been twenty-five years in the making. The idea of this story found her at thirteen, and its characters continued to deepen and transform alongside her own journey through the years that followed.
As an adult, she has spent years confronting the fears that once defined her, studying mindfulness, Taoist philosophy, and the art of self-defense. She now teaches self-protection and advocates fiercely for dissolving the illusions that make people—especially women—feel small or powerless.
Her fiction is rooted in this truth:
You cannot outrun your shadows, but you can learn to walk beside them.
Through Liya and Matt’s journey, she hopes to reach anyone who has ever felt lost in their own darkness. Her stories invite readers to step into worlds where trauma becomes transformation, where courage grows quietly, and where the battle to discovering your true self is both brutal and beautiful.
She writes to remind readers that they are not alone—and that even in the deepest darkness, there is a way through.
