Amil Young was born into poverty and disadvantage. His hometown, Fog Lake, was gripped deep within the dark shadows of the Appalachian Mountains. The ridges and thick woods encircled the moribund town like a prison built of stone and bark. But a charmed turn of fate saw fit to deliver Amil from the mud and misery of Fog Lake. Fleeting though it was, success was found in the game of baseball. His fame lasted barely the fifteen minutes all are promised, but it proved enough time to unfetter him from the shackles of Fog Lake. He left the mountains behind, settled down, and started life anew. Happiness and domestic security showered their gifts over Amil and his girlfriend, Ali. Two individuals, once broken, came together to form one life, a full and vibrant companionship that seemed destined to endure into the reaches of old age. With the passing of the years, old ghosts resurfaced to haunt the couple. The knives of the past tore at the union of Amil and Ali until their bond was severed. Black days descended over the pair, and the guilt of his many failures grafted itself to Amil. A great many things cast shame over him, but it was his violent betrayal of Ali that he could no longer carry. At thirty-seven years of age, Amil took his life.Lost among the desolation of the afterlife, Amil encountered horrors he could have never imagined while alive. He learned of a new world cut to ribbons by treason, and a pantheon of gods, now feckless, undone by one of their own. However, it was the myriad arrows of time that would serve to most torment him. He found Ali there among the ruin. It seemed cruelly impossible. When Amil elected to take his leave of mortality, Ali was young, decades of life ahead of her.Suicide was an exercise designed to rid his mind of vexation. Instead, it had dropped Amil into a challenge, so vast that none before had ever known victory. To free Ali from her suffering, for the chance to set right all he had destroyed, Amil made a deal with the Goddess of death, Aphelianna. With fragile promises of a second chance, she offered Amil a quest. Her challenge would send him deep into the land of the dead and back through the fragmented halls of a history nearly forgotten. His target was a key, the sole treasure of Aphelianna's sister, Isadora, the Goddess of life. Amil knew better than to trust the words of Death, but, for Ali, he was willing to forsake anything. However, if he were to succeed and place the key of life into the hands of wicked Aphelianna, everything would prove to be the price. And Amil, a mere man, would come to learn the truth of what everything and evermore come to mean when viewed through the eyes of an immortal.
About the Author: Rich Hayden was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA and still resides in the area with his girlfriend and cats. He is a mechanic, occasional metal artist, and writer. His novels include CrimeSpree and Curse.