Here's the first chapter of Shades of Beauty:

How many times have I lectured Kara about the dangers beyond our village? Too many. Yet, she still wandered off to pick jasmine flowers too close to sunset and got attacked by a rogue stilted shadow. In this hostile world, it's all about risk and cost—light illuminates or blinds—shadows twist our minds, turning hope into dread and truth into lies. So here I am, about to venture off to knock on evil's door because she's lying in bed with a fever no healer can break—the Indigo Fever. Irony is a cruel beast. Ridiculous, really. But not as ridiculous as me; Elara, a healer in a dying world.

Although right now, it's not the world I'm trying to save—it's my sister, Kara. She's the only family I have left in this bleak wasteland we call home. And she's slipping away, her body ravaged by a sickness I can't seem to cure. Damn it. Once again, desperation is driving me to risk everything. No matter what I do, it always feels like I’m stuck in a lose-lose situation. Guess you could say I’m just another soul born under a bad sign, if you believe in that sort of thing. I don’t—or I didn’t until Kara got sick.

Now, I’ll believe in anything if it means saving her. There's an ache in my chest, a yawning void of despair threatening to swallow me whole. I can't lose her. I won't. Even if it means venturing into the one place all survivors fear—the forbidden land—the Nightfall Dominion—the only place on Lumaria that holds the healing Caldair herb. And it’s the one thing the stilted shadows don’t seem to like.

What’s known about the stilted shadows? Not much. But one thing is certain—they’re very different from regular, everyday shadows. Besides the fact that they’re infused with some kind of evil, toxic energy, a stilted shadow splays out in the opposite direction compared to a normal shadow. When exposed to light, the thing reaches up toward the brightness, giving it an eerie, stilted appearance. And oh my, is it ever a sight to behold, that’s for sure. Like something ripped straight out of a nightmare, the dark gloom swirling around the thing, a smothering presence that devours any glimmer of brilliance in its path. 

Speaking of nightmares, when the stilted shadows descended upon the world twenty years ago, threatening to choke the light and life from everyone, wide eyes and scrambling legs flooded across the lands. It was almost as frightening as the thought of traveling to the Nightfall Dominion—the place where no Lumarian is supposed to go now—the land in the heart of twilight.

And, I must venture into that forbidden land to find a special strain of Caldair rumored to grow there. As I pack my meager supplies and bid farewell to the ramshackle enclave we call home, my mind wanders to the last time I felt this desperate. When my childhood friend Ivy fell ill with the Indigo Fever. I wanted to be better than Kara, to prove myself as the superior healer. But I made the wrong infusion for Ivy. Instead of curing her, I killed her. The guilt has haunted me ever since, a constant reminder of my failure and the consequences of my jealous, stubborn nature.

But I can’t help the way I am—the way I feel. Kara’s always been the special one, blessed with the ability to wield the natural shadow magic, a power few can touch. A power that can force a healing potion deep into a sick person, surrounding their illness and allowing for its extraction. A power I tried hard to hold, and look what that got me. So, ever since my terrible mistake, I want nothing to do with that kind of power. Nope. It’s not for me.

None of that matters because I’m content with my basic life, my basic abilities; to use the light within herbs to heal, to use the safe form of power that’s given to twins born in the light. Besides, I’m certain Kara absorbed all the talent for wielding shadows when we were in the womb, and that kind of power hates me. Even if the shadows favored me, I wouldn’t trust myself to touch the talent again. Not after my mistake with Ivy.

Damn it, if only I’d listened to Kara. But I couldn’t bring myself to see her side, to see that she was right in telling me to use less force with the shadows, to coax them out with loving thoughts. Instead of connecting to the compassion in her tone, I pulled in the shadows as fast as possible just to spite her.

And then I spat my response at her. “Shut up, I know what I’m doing!”

To be honest, deep inside, a part of me knew she was right, which angered me more, so I couldn’t bring myself to agree with her. And once again, people are telling me things I don’t want to agree with. At least it's not my sister this time—no, it's the elders telling me not to leave the enclave. As I turn to do just that, Mara, reaches out, her gnarled hand catching my arm. Opaque as opal, her gaze bores into me, and I struggle not to squirm.

“Listen well, child.” Her voice is soft, a wisp of cotton on a gentle breeze. “When you’re in the realm of eternal twilight, remember neither light nor shadow can exist without the other. It’s a balance, and true strength lies in understanding both.”

Yeah. Yeah. Fighting the urge to roll my eyes, I nod and give her a placating smile. Sure. Her words ricochet around in my skull, but I stomp them down, refusing to listen.

I know it might seem stupid to ignore her, but whatever. I’m not an idiot and don’t need lectures about dumb fluff stuff. This time, I won’t make a mistake. This time, I know I’m right. And even though they all think I’m crazy, that I'm walking like a willing victim to my own gruesome death—oh, well. Maybe I am.

Still, when it comes to the people I love, I'd march my impulsive and cynical self into the jaws of hell itself for a chance to save any of them. It’s what I do. Saving people, that is. Besides, the nightmare Nightfall Dominion can't be much worse than this wasteland we’re all living in, right? As long as the sun keeps shining, things will be fine. Telling myself that is one thing, but believing it is a whole other story. 
As the sun beats down on me, sweat trickles down my spine, and I wonder how long it’ll take to get to the Nightfall Dominion. Hmm. Glancing up at the clouds in the distance, I hope for the wind to pick up and blow the impending storm away, but luck will probably screw me over once again.

Oh, well. The crumbling skyline of the city fades into the shadows of the overgrown wilderness as I pedal my bike north along the cracked and battered highway. Ahead, the wildlands sprawl in an endless expanse, a patchwork of barren fields, skeletal forests, and stagnant swamps. This is the world we inherited, broken and hostile. I’ve heard packs of feral dogs roam the desolate lands, and nomad gangs lie in ambush behind every bend, eager to pillage and murder for the most basic supplies.

But the thought of these everyday threats barely registers in my mind. I’m too fixated on my destination, on the dark legends that swirl around the forbidden land. And most of all, I’m consumed by thoughts of the Sovereign, Nikolai Stavros—the vampire everyone whispers about—the beast who rules from the shadows of his domain. People say blood sustains him, although I can’t stop wondering if it’s not something more than that. From the stories I’ve heard, torturing humans is a thrill to him, so maybe that’s what truly satiates him. Torture.

Is it true that he's a monster, driven by an insatiable need to consume, with his heart beating only for violence and hunger? I don’t know. But I do know that Kara is one of the few powerful magic wielders in our community, and without her, our enclave won’t be able to keep the protective barriers in place. Darkness will fall upon us, snuffing out everything good in the world, and I can’t let that happen.