Young Writers Society

Briurn's Academy of Magic is under attack.

Butterflies dance in the woods at its borders, and roses keep turning up in its gardens. First years Zex and Ryme are sure that the Dark King is planning on turning Briurn's talented students into mindless minions for his legion of unstoppable nightmares. But when they investigate the woods the week before the start of classes, they don't find the king or his nightmares.

Instead, they find a girl from a world where magic doesn't exist. Rissa Hawthorne is a girl who has always been plagued by strange dreams, but ending up on a completely different world when she sleeps isn't normal for her, either. After Rissa is admitted into Briurn by its faculty, Zex and Ryme can't stop themselves from befriending her—even when all signs point to her having something to do with the Dark King.

As the school year progresses, the three become determined to find the sea that seems to be key to the Dark King's evil plan. But the sea is elusive, and the king is growing more desperate. It seems inevitable that he's going to do something before the partnership ceremony at the very end of the semester. With Rissa doubting which world she truly belongs to, and Ryme and Zex questioning if they should pick Rissa or each other to be their magic partner for life, things only get more complicated.

Rissa and the Dark King is a story about best friends maybe lasting forever, new friendships that feel like they've lasted a lifetime, and dark, forbidden magic that thrives on rosebuds and butterfly wings.