Author:
Corey McCullough is an independent copy editor, proofreader, ghostwriter, and author. He lives in western Pennsylvania with his amazing wife Vanessa and their two beautiful daughters. His favorite pastimes are reading, writing, playing video games, spending time with his best friend (Vanessa), and, most of all, being a dad.

A teenager’s wish to escape his stressful life just came true — with otherworldly consequences.

Nothing is going right for Justin Holmes. Like many seventeen-year-olds, he sometimes wishes he could just run away and leave everything behind. But he gets more than he bargained for when he storms out of the house after an argument with his father and accidentally steps into a parallel universe of swords, shields, magic, and monsters.

Suddenly, Justin is desperate to find a way back to his ordinary life in small-town America. His search for answers takes an unexpected turn when a strange old man and a powerful mercenary recruit him to rescue a kidnapped princess. But their rescue mission quickly takes a disastrous turn and becomes a life-or-death flight deep into the unknown wilds. Justin and his unlikely allies are on the run from dark forces wielding deadly, arcane power — demonic beings that seem to have suddenly arrived from somewhere beyond this world . . . just like Justin.

Justin may not be a fighter, but he is intelligent and strong-willed. He soon realizes that nothing in this world is what it seems. Even his allies’ mission may have all been a ruse . . . to get to him.

Ancient secrets are revealed that could shake the foundations of this alternate world . . . and might unlock Justin’s portal home.

The Fallen Odyssey is a contemporary portal fantasy novel for college and “new adult” audiences. It is the first of a trilogy but can be enjoyed as a stand-alone novel. If you like epic, serious fantasy about dangerous quests in magical worlds, check out The Fallen Odyssey.

The Fallen Odyssey

Ahlund led the way, hacking at foliage with his long knife. Whether he navigated from memory or something else, Justin did not know. He had said it would be a two-day trip to Esthean, but the rain was slowing everything down. Justin's clothes were saturated. His hands were wrinkled, and blisters were rubbing raw on the tops and sides of his soaking feet. The rain pounded relentlessly.


It had poured all night and showed no signs of stopping. It made sleep nearly impossible. Covering up with one of the spare canvases had helped but had also invited in all manner of crawling and slithering things just as eager as him to stay dry.


Throughout the morning, Justin's demon arm had pulsed with numbing pinpricks from the inside-out. The sensation was now a constant, numbing tingle. His left hand felt as though it had fallen asleep. Flexing and massaging the fingers helped a little, but, try as he might, he couldn't seem to get the feeling back into them fully.


Chapter 90: Take a Pebble