Damazo

By Brittany Bassinger

Ryder Murphy has lived a boring life in his twenty-one years, but all of that quickly changes in a single night. Finding out that he has the ability to shift, the rain pulls him into a world behind the falls where he learns all about cascaders and their realm. A secret realm that lives parallel to that of humans, a realm that can only be accessed by crossing a plane hidden within the many waterfalls of the human world. It is a beautiful and mystical place where Shepherds rule, the Accord is the law and Damazos are wanted. Discovering the truth about his mother’s death, Ryder wants to help the resistance that has formed in the realm to take down the man on top, Alistair Martis. With ill intentions, Martis is on a quest for twelve ancient crystals that are hidden throughout the human world and are the key to unlocking the torrent; a transcendent and powerful portal that can take you to any time and any place that you desire.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: May 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781647500139

Brittany Bassinger

Originally from Southwest Pennsylvania, Brittany Bassinger has always had a vivid imagination and a strong love for adventures. One day, at a very young age while on a family vacation, she was sitting in the backseat of her parent’s car and saw a waterfall. It was not big but her mind began to wonder and she imagined a world on the other side of the water that was cascading down. That idea evolved and it stuck with her all the way to adulthood. Brittany’s family moved to Baltimore, Maryland at the age of 7 and she has lived there ever since. Now married with two young sons, Brittany decided to put the world she had envisioned as a girl into words.

Book preview

Chapter One

Tommy and Katherine Murphy live in a small town outside of Seattle, Washington, with their son, Ryder. Tommy is with the Port Authority down at the harbor and Katherine is a Park Ranger at Snoqualmie Park.

I cannot believe he is going to be one next week! said Katherine looking down at her blond curly-haired son playing on the kitchen floor. He has gotten so big so fast! she says as she is leaning over the sink washing dishes from dinner.

That’s what babies do, Kat; they grow, replies Tommy in a sarcastic tone. Just think, next year he’ll be two, then three, then four then— he goes on to say, looking up over his glasses as he reads the paper at the table.

Okay! Tom, I get it! snaps Katherine. I guess maybe I feel like I lost a lot of time this year with border control being on such high alert. Sometimes I wish I could just have a normal month, a normal week; shit, I’ll even take a normal day! She slams the dishrag down on the counter, grabbing a dry towel to wipe her hands.

"You and me both, babe, it’s not easy working a shift and coming home pulling double duty here. I just do not get why you cannot say that you want out? Not everyone that has been blessed with your gift should have to accept it. It is bullshit, just go to Atticus and say YOU WANT OUT!" shouts Tommy as he stands up, pushing his chair back.

Katherine is not just a Park Ranger. She is what her kind calls a Realmist. A Realmist is one who is to patrol and protect the borders of the realm.

Atticus may be my uncle, Tom, but he is first and foremost a Luminarian. You know he cannot help me!

A Luminarian is a government-type official. They are the ears and eyes of the realm and they report directly to the Shepherds.

If I want out, we have to run, and you know what that means. There is a lot going on at headquarters. Things are changing and they are becoming stricter. I do want us to have more time together as a family, believe me. But I want Ryder to have a good life, explains Katherine.

"This is no life, Kat! How do you think I feel? I have no idea where you are, what you are doing, if you are safe. I know nothing about your world. And I sure as hell do not know if you are going to make it home to us every time you cross that plane. Ryder and I do not deserve a quarter of you, and how your people continue to have families is beyond me! Tommy picks Ryder up off the floor and takes him to his crib for bedtime. Before walking completely out of the kitchen, he mumbles, Goodnight, love you."

This is all weighing heavy on Katherine. She finishes her dishes, turns the light above the sink on, and shuts off the ceiling lights. Walking toward the bathroom, she sees the light on in the living room. Going to flip the switch off, she looks over at the entertainment stand. There, sitting on one of the shelves is a picture of her as a child and her Uncle Atticus.

Katherine was mostly raised by her uncle and they were always close; up until she married Tommy. Atticus does not have much regard for humans. After staring at the picture for a minute, she looks away, puts her head down, flips the switch off, and makes her way into the bathroom to wash her face and get ready for bed. Once she is through in the bathroom, she sneaks into her and Tommy’s room; the light is already off and Tommy is snoring.

How he falls asleep so fast is beyond me, she quietly says to herself.

Pulling down the sheets on her side, she carefully gets into bed, doing her best not to make any noise. And no sooner has her head hit the pillow than her mind begins to race. She thinks about how, as a child, she grew up in the realm and was brought up as a cascader.

Cascaders are people that can transport through falling water into a realm that is unreachable to humans. This realm is a whole other world, an ideal world to most. Katherine loved her childhood and she loved the realm. She loved it so much that she decided to protect it as an adult. She became a Realmist. She never thought in a million years that she would enter the human world and fall in love. But that is exactly what happened and now she is lost and torn with how to continue on. She loves who she is, but she knows it is not going to be easy for her family, especially Ryder as he is growing up. She loves her boys more than anything, even the realm.

With very little sleep, Katherine wakes up to her alarm. She rolls over, her long brown hair is in tangles and partially stuck to her face. She steps out of bed, puts on her fuzzy slippers, and heads into the kitchen. She looks out of the window above the sink to find that Tommy’s truck is gone and that he left early for work without even saying bye. She feels awful leaving things the way they did last night.

She makes her coffee in her favorite pink cup and goes into Ryder’s room to check on him. He is sound asleep in his crib, his mouth is wide open and his hair is also partially stuck to his face. Katherine smiles while she looks at her baby. Her smile quickly fades when she starts to think that his life will never be normal if things keep going like they are now.

She walks back into her bedroom, setting her pink cup down on her vanity next to a wedding picture of her and Tommy. Tommy is a handsome man, blue eyes, blonde hair, which is beginning to fade to gray. It gives him more of a distinguished look, Katherine always jokes with him. Tommy is a good man, a great husband, and a wonderful father.

Katherine picks up the picture, it’s in a fancy beaded frame. She completely adores Tommy and she wants them to be together as a family with Ryder, a normal family. And because Tommy is not a cascader, he can never live in the realm. She knows that the only way for them to have a life together is in the human world away from the cascader life.

Katherine picks Ryder up to get him ready for daycare. Come on, baby boy, let’s get this show on the road. Ryder smiles as she talks to him. He is a good baby, little to no fuss and cute as a button. Katherine sings the entire time she dresses him, Handsome, handsome perfect man. Ryder giggles and smiles every time she does this. She grabs his diaper bag and bottle before grabbing her keys and purse and heads out the front door, Ryder snug on her hip.

Completely on autopilot, Katherine arrives at Ryder’s daycare with her mind still engulfed with her and Tommy’s argument. She shakes her head to snap out of it and gets Ryder out of her SUV and carries him in. Tommy’s high school friend Susan owns the daycare, so Katherine has always felt comfortable leaving Ryder there for the day.

There’s my little dude! Susan comes right over, arms wide open, ready to take Ryder. Susan has short brown hair, freckles and wears glasses.

Katherine sets the diaper bag down and walks to the fridge to put the bottle in it. I should be getting off earlier today, so don’t have too much fun.

Oh, we always have fun, Mom! Don’t we, dude? Susan is making goofy faces at Ryder and he is cracking up.

Alright, well, I better get going. I’ll see you two later. I love you, little man, to the moon. She kisses his forehead and heads out for work.

As a Park Ranger, Katherine has easy access to her dock in the realm. Every Realmist guards a specific entrance called a dock. All docks have to be natural falling water, where you can jump from dry to wet, crossing a plane. The Snoqualmie waterfall is her way in. There is another portal, but it is not an entrance into their controlled realm. It is into what the cascaders call the torrent.

The torrent can take you to any time and any place. As of now, the only way into the torrent is a rain line. Where the storm begins and ends, a rain line is avoided at all costs by cascaders as it will take them into the torrent but once they enter, it is unsure of what elements they will be up against and more importantly, they may not have a way back. There is no telling where one will end up once consumed by a rain line; they could be thrown into the rainforests of South America or in the middle of World War II.

She pulls to the security booth at the driveway entrance to the park. Hey Frank! How’s it going this morning?

Frank is the security guard at the State Park. He is a frumpy older gentleman, into his second career as he retired from the Seattle Police Force about ten years ago.

It’s going, Kat, another day, an—

Another dollar! she winks and pulls off up to her post. She gets out of her SUV and looks around at the beautiful scenery.

Kat! Hey lady, you are not on the sheet for today, Down walks an older woman from the Ranger’s office.

Oh, hey Helen. Helen is a fellow Park Ranger. I came to take a little walk, I want to scope things out to see where I can bring Ryder, Katherine answers quickly; she cannot tell her that she needs to jump into the falls to go into a realm unreachable to humans; that would not go over well.

What a great idea, sweetheart! Enjoy. Helen gives a little wave and heads back up to the Ranger’s Post.

Katherine walks over to the Snoqualmie Falls Trail entrance and begins to hike to the upper observation deck of the waterfall. Once she hears the rushing of the water, she takes a deep breath and walks over to the edge of the falls. Making sure no one is around, she jumps, disappearing into the mist.

Crossing the plane is always such an exhilarating experience. Katherine has always loved that feeling of pure adrenaline. Once she is in the realm, she lands right onto a black rubber pad in a room that has tall ceilings and is very loud. The walls are steel and there are black grated stairs and catwalks all around. The backside of the waterfall, of course, is flowing and it lets out into a river that the realm uses.

Katherine walks off the pad onto the catwalk that leads to a set of stairs up to a control room. In there is where she is able to look over the dock and there are screens that show the borders of the realm that are in her assigned zone. She is able to see who, or what, comes in and or out of the realm.

She opens the control room door and walks toward her desk.

I thought you weren’t due in until later, a man’s voice says from behind the door.

Katherine jumps, she turns around to see that it is a familiar face. You scared the shit out of me, Derrick! No, I am not due in until noon but I left some things unfinished and I have to wrap it all up, she snaps.

Is it authorized? You cannot just come and go as you please, Katherine. They are running a tight ship around here and for good reasons. But you should know all of this, right? With a Luminarian for an uncle and all. Derrick’s eyes are following Katherine as she walks over to her desk.

She begins to organize some papers. No, actually I have no idea why everything is so locked down around here anymore, and to be quite honest, I could care less. She slams her desk drawer shut and sits down in her chair.

Derrick stands up from his stool, Aww, come on Katherine, don’t be like that with me. We used to be close. He walks over to Katherine, puts his hands on her desk, and leans in. Very close. Derrick Chantos is tall, dark, and handsome. He is strong and can come off as overbearing.

That was a long time ago, Derrick, and I am married now. She leans back in her chair.

Right, to a human! Katherine Ganis, protector of her beloved realm, marries someone who cannot even live here! Makes no damn sense. He shakes his head and walks out of the control room door.

Katherine and Derrick grew up together in the realm and they have known each other since they were kids. In their teenage years, they began dating. When Katherine decided to become a Realmist and live on the outside, Derrick became very possessive and jealous. Before she made her big move, they broke up, never completely restoring their once great friendship.

Katherine goes to turn on her computer and notices a yellow sticky note on her screen:

We need to talk ASAP. Let me know when you get in- AP

She says aloud to herself, Great, now what?

AP are initials for her uncle, Atticus Petraeus, the Luminarian.

Luminarians are executive elected officials for the realm. A Luminarian’s purpose is to serve directly under and with the highest ranking positions of the realm—the Shepherds. There are six Luminarians and seven Shepherds that together make up what is called the Senior Cabinet. They meet together on a regular basis to discuss various issues.

Each Luminarian is appointed to a specific branch of the realm. Their job is to supervise and regulate, reporting back to the Shepherds and other Luminarians with daily proceedings and any problems to ensure that the realm runs in a smooth fashion. It is the cascader way of a government.

As Katherine goes to remove the sticky note from her computer screen, the control room door opens. In walks a younger woman, about Katherine’s age, with messy red hair. Oh, hey Katherine, I didn’t expect to see you here yet. I thought you started at twelve today?

It was Traci, another Realmist who has the shift right before Katherine. Traci always seems frazzled and unorganized to Katherine, just like her hair. She is very sweet and Katherine has always liked her; she has just never understood how she keeps it together being so all over the place.

Yeah, I do. I am just trying to get ahead of myself here. I have some loose ends that I need to tie up. Katherine grabs the sticky note off her screen and walks over to the door. I have to run upstairs, I’ll be back in a little while.

She walks out of the control room and goes up a set of grated metal stairs to a set of big gunmetal double doors. Using the keypad to the right, she enters in her code and the sound of compressed air comes from the doors as they slide open. She walks through and the doors quickly close behind her. She is now in a long, cement hallway with many openings along the way. The openings take you through more cement halls that can be followed to all of the other docks throughout the realm. These series of halls are all intertwined but they all empty out to the same place; a long narrow room that is all white and marble and lined with elevators.

The elevators can take you up to the different levels of headquarters. She travels quickly down the damp passage and once she reaches the marble room, she presses the up arrow button, calling for an elevator. One of them opens immediately and she enters and presses for floor eighteen. All offices of the Luminarians are located on the eighteenth floor of headquarters.

Stepping out of the elevator, she walks down another long hall, which is also all white and marble like the elevator room she just came from. She passes a total of five spaced out bright silver doors on either side of her, all Luminarian offices. At the end of the large hall is a pair of silver doors; the door on the right has a ‘P’ as a doorknob and the door on the left has the same ‘P’, only mirrored. She knocks.

Come in! a man’s voice yells from the other side.

Katherine opens the door. You wanted to see me?

Atticus Petraeus is sitting behind a huge antique desk. He is a very clean-cut man in his mid to late forties. He has dark hair and dark eyes just like Katherine.

Yes, I need to ask you some things, Katherine. Have a seat. Atticus motions with his hand at the chairs in front of his massive desk. You are in early today, is there a specific reason as to why?

How come everyone I see today asks me why I am here early? Is it so bad that I had some things to take care of? What is the big deal? Katherine is irritated that this is now the third person inquiring about her being early today.

It is a big deal these days. There are a lot of changes that are happening in our world. You would know about them if you were here more. Atticus stands up and walks over to a giant window that is behind his desk. It overlooks the headquarters complex. There is lush plant life all around with cobble stone paths leading to various large buildings. Centered is an elaborate fountain with a statue of Zeus; the Supreme Greek God. Staring down at the fountain, he asks, How is Ryder doing?

Ryder? He’s great. Why do you want to know about him, you have never asked me before? Katherine glares over at Atticus.

Atticus turns around. The Keepers have had some issues obtaining his coding for identification tracking. Do you know anything about this?

When cascaders have children, the child’s blood is drawn, and then sent to the Keeper’s surveillance division for examination and verification. Within the blood are enzymes that form a sequence specific to each individual. Once the sequence is decoded, the Keepers are able to identify that cascader when doing security checks.

I have no clue, I brought in a tube of his blood when he was an infant and submitted it to the analysts. Just like I was told by you, she snaps.

I think that you will have to bring him in for some more testing, just so we can fill in these holes.

Katherine immediately got a sick feeling deep in her gut. She does not want to bring Ryder in here, things have changed and everybody is acting so differently, including her uncle. This is just more vindication to leave the realm. But she does not want Atticus to suspect anything.

Sure, she answers, trying not to let her words shake, I will set something up.

Very good, that will be all, Katherine. He sits down and begins to write in his black leather notebook.

Without saying another word, Katherine gets up and leaves her uncle’s office. Her heart is pounding. Her mind is going a hundred miles an hour in thought. She cannot understand why Ryder’s coding has holes. But that does not even matter. She needs to get into the Keeper’s offices find and destroy what information they do have on Ryder and delete her sequence from their database so she can no longer be identified. She heads back to her post.

All done? Traci asks as Katherine enters the control room.

Uh, yeah, for now. You getting ready to get out of here? Katherine walks over to her desk, looking up at the clock to see that it is almost noon.

Yep! Just logging in a couple of things then I am good to go. Traci is standing up by the monitors writing on her clipboard.

Feeling uneasy about everything, Katherine asks, Do you know what Derrick was doing in here earlier?

Um, yeah, he asked me if you were coming in today. And then, he asked if you still had Ryder’s file from when he was first born. I just told him to check for himself. She hangs up her clipboard up and opens the door to leave. With him being a Keeper now, I thought it was no big deal.

What? Derrick, a Keeper? For which division? When the hell did that happen? Katherine throws her hands up in frustration.

"Like, three months or so ago. I’m surprised you didn’t know this already. He had so many campaign signs all around. He is in the newer division—Team D. Anyway, I have to get out of here. See you later!" Traci closes the door behind as she walks out.

Katherine falls back into her chair. Now she understands why Derrick was snooping around in her office; he was elected as a Keeper. And his little snide remark about her uncle being a Luminarian was because he saw the sticky note from Atticus on her screen. Was Atticus trying to warn me? she thinks. Or was he being one hundred percent professional?

Either way, Katherine knows more than ever that she needs to get away from the realm for good. She gets up, sets her post on auto-mode, where an alarm will sound and be sent to a portable monitor if the borders are approached. She leaves the control room and walks up the stairs to the gunmetal doors and travels down the cement hallway again. This time when she enters the elevator off the white marble room, she presses for the seventeenth floor.

The doors open, Katherine steps out. This floor is mostly all white marble as well, but with big windows looking into each office. Each office is set up like a laboratory, everyone seems very into their work, which is great for Katherine, and she is hoping to get in and out with no detection. She continues down the hall, stopping in front of an office labeled Keeper’s Surveillance Division. The blinds are closed and the lights are off. She takes a deep breath and opens the door and turns on the light.

The office is empty, a huge relief for Katherine. She closes the door and goes over to one of the many computers. She sees some files on the table next to the keyboard. She thumbs through them finding one that is labeled Ganis-Murphy. Upon opening, she sees Ryder’s information and that it is incomplete, just as Atticus was explaining. It also states transfer to Team D for further analysis. Feeling puzzled, she grabs the file for her taking.

Hopefully, this will be easy too, Katherine says to herself as she logs into the database. She goes into the files where the sequences are stored, finds her name, and deletes the file. She scrolls down and finds what little they do have for Ryder and deletes his information as well. She logs out, grabs the file, turns the lights out, and leaves the office. She makes a beeline for the elevators and heads back down to her post.

Walking into the control room, Katherine feels like that was a little too easy. She shreds the Ganis-Murphy file immediately and starts to go through all of her personal files, ensuring that there is nothing left that could help anyone track her and her family. She shreds a few more things and the control room door opens. Katherine’s back is facing the door, she is almost scared to turn around, fearing that she is caught.

Busy, busy, I see, a familiar voice says.

Katherine turns around to see that it is Donnie, a fellow Realmist who has the shift after her. She is filled with relief. Yeah, it has been a crazy day.

That is all it is around her anymore, honey—crazy. Donnie drapes his jacket over the chair and grabs the clipboard that is hanging up. Donnie is in his early thirties. He is balding and is slightly overweight. I had an appointment on fourteen that went a lot faster than expected so I just came in a little early; I am sure I will catch hell for it too. Donnie chuckles. This place is something else, but if you want to duck out of here early today, you can, darling.

That would be PERFECT! Thank you! Katherine takes one last look around and gets up to leave. Alright Donnie, enjoy the craziness… she opens the door. See ya.

Bye darling, replies Donnie.

Katherine closes the door and heads back down the grated stairs to the realm’s side of the Snoqualmie waterfall. She looks back up at the control room, only for a few seconds, turns and jumps into the falls.

Landing in a secluded part of the park near the base of the falls, she feels like she did it. Her and her family can now live a normal life. She still cannot fully come to terms with how the realm, her home that at one time she cherished, has turned into such a sketchy, undesirable place. She walks up to her SUV, hops in, and exits the park. She honks her horn at the gate to Frank and gets onto the highway to go pick up Ryder.

Above, Katherine could see the clouds rolling in. A storm was coming. Unknowingly, so was the Accord.

Katherine calls Tommy and tells him that she did it. She finally did it and they cannot trace Ryder and she destroyed her code. They both are so happy and then out of nowhere, BOOM! An all-black car rams the back of Katherine’s SUV. She is being followed; they found out what she did.

Tommy hears the crash and begs, Katherine, tell me what the hell is going on!

She looks in her rearview and sees a half a dozen black cars all behind her. She sees the clouds ahead and the abundant amount of sunshine behind her. She takes her SUV off the road, trying to lose a few of the cars. Ahead she sees lightning and that it is pouring down rain; she knows what she has to do so her family can be safe. She floors it, still on the phone with Tommy, she tells him, Take care of Ryder, and go to where we planned, and raise him right!

Katherine jumps out of her vehicle about forty yards from the approaching rain line ahead. She runs toward it, the black cars see her and the line. They stop short, engines running but no one gets out. She says to Tommy, I love you and Ryder to the moon! We will be together again.

Then she holds the phone to her heart, closes her eyes, and walks into the line, disappearing instantly. The black cars immediately turn around and head on back down the highway.

Chapter Two

20 Years Later…

In a small town in Nevada, Tommy owns a garage and works as a mechanic. He was able to start his business with money that he and Katherine had saved if they decided to start over and live normal, human lives. Ryder works at the garage as well and still lives at home with his dad. Work has been slow and Ryder has an out of town interview for a machine specialist in Porterville, California; not too far from Los Angeles. Tommy has urged Ryder to get out there and make a living and start a family, but Ryder just cannot bring himself to leave his father alone.

Tommy has never told Ryder who he really is and who his mother was. Ryder only knows that she died in a car crash. The town that Katherine had chosen, Beatty, was a dry town with no waterfall for miles. If they decided to raise Ryder as human, it would have to be away from the cascaders and the realm. Tommy kept his promise and raised him like an ordinary kid. But he knows that he has to tell Ryder the truth, sooner than later, as Ryder needs to go out on his own but he needs to know who he really is for his own safety.

You fill out all of that paperwork I printed for your interview? Tommy asks as he looks around the hood of an old American classic.

Yeah Dad, it’s all done, replies Ryder; he is sitting in the driver’s seat of the classic car. Ryder is a perfect cross between his parents. He has his father’s blond hair and good looks and his mother’s dark brown eyes.

Tommy got the interview for Ryder, trying to give him that extra push. He figures once he returns, he will tell him the truth.

Go ahead and start it up! shouts Tommy. Now fully gray, Tommy is still just as handsome.

Ryder turns the key in the ignition and the car rumbles on. Tommy slams the hood shut.

Well, it’s fixed. You can shut it down now. I’m going to go call Mr. Addis and let him know his car is ready. I’ll also call the motel to confirm your reservation for tonight. Tommy walks into the office. He set Ryder up in a motel so he is able to have a good night’s sleep before his interview tomorrow.

Ryder follows his dad into the office, leans up against the doorframe. I guess I better get going soon. You need me to do anything else here before I hit the road?

Tommy is sitting at his desk looking for Mr. Addis’ phone number. Um, no… he starts to say as he picks up his desk calendar searching for the number. I should be alright. He turns his chair to go through another stack of papers.

Ryder walks over to the desk, picks up a fast food bag and hands his dad the paper