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

A giant chunk of cliff-side had fallen across the dry moat that separated the palace of Hartla from the rest of the city. One at a time, Gunnar, Lycon, and Adonica climbed atop it and hurried across.


As soon as Gunnar's feet hit the other side, he raced toward the outer wall, ducking low to stay in the shadows. He strained his ears, but all he heard was the far-off cawing of seabirds.


Lycon and Adonica took up positions beside him. For the sake of remaining undetected, only the three of them had entered the city. But it was becoming increasingly apparent that there was nothing to hide from. Only corpses in the streets and the crows and vultures tending to them.


Adonica nudged Gunnar and pointed. Scattered around the caved-in palace entrance were several dead soldiers in white-trimmed armor. Some had been caught in the cave-in. Others lay at the edge of a large, charred crater left by a cythraul's daemyn attack.


Chapter 91: Return to the Palace of Hartla (Part 1)