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Back The Ever After Save as PDF
Chapters (92)
  1. Cover
  2. TheEVERAFTER
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. 34
  37. 35
  38. 36
  39. 37
  40. 38
  41. 39
  42. 40
  43. 41
  44. 42
  45. 43
  46. 44
  47. 45
  48. 46
  49. 47
  50. 48
  51. 49
  52. 50
  53. 51
  54. 52
  55. 53
  56. 54
  57. 55
  58. 56
  59. 57
  60. 58
  61. 59
  62. 60
  63. 61
  64. 62
  65. 63
  66. 64
  67. 65
  68. 66
  69. 67
  70. 68
  71. 69
  72. 70
  73. 71
  74. 72
  75. 73
  76. 74
  77. 75
  78. 76
  79. 77
  80. 78
  81. 79
  82. 80
  83. 81
  84. 82
  85. 83
  86. 84
  87. 85
  88. 86
  89. Epilogue
  90. GLOSSARY
  91. TheEVERAFTER
  92. By Amanda Hocking

In the center aisles, outside of the stall and only a few meters away from me—closer than Pan, who I couldn’t even see at all—stood an albino woolly elk. It was a massive beast, towering above me with wide, broad antlers, like a prehistoric moose. The antlers and thick fur were pure white, and the eyes of red seemed to glow in the darkness.

The animal started walking toward me, deliberate strides on long giraffian legs, and as it passed by the stalls on its way to me, the other woollies fell silent. The albino elk had nearly reached me when it stopped and leaned forward, chuffing as it sniffed my hair, and I reached out to pet its nose—

—and the lights suddenly came on. Pan had flicked them on, and I closed my eyes against the blinding brightness. When I finally opened them again, the albino elk was gone.

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“There are no albino elk here,” Pan told me with confused dismay, but I honestly wasn’t that surprised. “Maybe it was your eyes playing tricks in the dark.”

It was a reasonable suggestion, but I didn’t believe it. I had seen an albino woolly elk once before. I had a hazy memory of following one through the ruins of a city as it led me . . . somewhere I couldn’t quite remember.

Most of the woollies went out to one of the fields during the day, heading out at dawn and returning late in the evening. The ones that stayed behind were ill, old, pregnant, mothering a new calf, or the occasionally lazy elk that chose to stay in for the day.

I was comforting one of the calves, giving it a supplemental bottle of enriched formula to help fatten up the little runt, and through the windows, I saw the sun shining again.

Later, after I’d helped Pan with the rest of the woollies and gone back to my apartment, leaving Pan to take care of Brueger, Bryn told me that she’d timed it, and the eclipse had lasted just under seven minutes. Right after it ended, Dagny had run down to the Mimirin to find out what was going on, because of course she did.

Unfortunately, when she came back over three hours later, Dagny didn’t have any real answers. They had even checked in with the human news and information from NASA, and while humans had seen it too, their experts were surprisingly mum. The “eclipse” covered an area of nine thousand square miles, and the best guess was that a large meteor had passed by at just the right time at just the right angle.

Already conspiracy theories were going around. The humans suspected an enemy nation, an alien ship, or a publicity stunt by a big tech company or the new superhero movie opening in a couple weeks. Trolls suspected the humans, other tribes, or maybe a small group of very powerful trolls.