To Touch the Sky

To Touch the Sky (2010), by J. G. Taschereau, is a fantasy novel detailing an event that occurs while Diatyallah "Dee" Gatti is searching Carul for her lost master, which leads her to unite three solitary travellers in a group to uncover the mystery behind the mysterious Wraiths of Carul. This was Taschereau's debut novel, as well as the first appearance of Dee in a published story. While not a part of the Tales of the Other Universe trilogy, it features several important characters from the triology and is to be treated as somewhat of a prequel to the story.

Synopsis
About one year after leaving home, Diatyallah Gatti arrives in the small mountain village of Dreshval deep within the Allied Tribes of Carul. The province is primarily populated by arooghalests, a race of humanoids with bestial traits who have a strong disdain for any humans in their territories. Diatyallah has a philosophical discussion with an arooghalest watchmaker about whether or not her journey is the best way for her to live her life. After the watchmaker leaves, Fenris Bartok tries to smooth talk Diatyallah, interested in stealing her necklace. He is instead saved by her magic when a group of goblins tries to attack Fenris for cheating them in a game of cards.

That night, Fenris goes to Diatyallah's inn with the intent of robbing both the inn and her. Before he enters, a group of shadowy figures appears and kills the bartender. Upstairs, they also kill the watchmaker who was also staying at the inn. The commotion wakes Diatyallah, who attacks the intruders and realizes that they have magical abilities. During the scuffle, she also finds a watch that the watchmaker had been repairing earlier that day. Fenris intervenes in the fight and he and Diatyallah run from the inn while being pursued. Diatyallah holds their attackers off with her magic as Shiva Windrider and Duncan Cairn appear to help dispel the rest of the attackers. The four decide to camp in the nearby woods for safety.

The following morning, Shiva explains that the sorcerors were part of a group called the Wraiths of Carul and have been causing trouble across the province for months. The four decide to form a group to deal with the threat of the Wraiths. Diatyallah and Duncan return to the inn and find no trace of the attack, which has been covered up by magic. After returning to the camp, Diatyallah and Shiva argue over the importance of the pocket watch and Diatyallah leaves the group. It is only after convincing from Fenris to listen to Diatyallah that Shiva relents and the three search for her. They find her under attack by the Wraiths and help her fight off all but one, a human boy named Ural. Using the stars, Diatyallah increases her magical power and forces Ural to retreat.

The four decide to go to Dreshval's leaders, who ignore their efforts because they (aside from Shiva) are human. Upset, Duncan storms out. Diatyallah, now having shared her personal nickname of Dee with the others, suggests that they move away from Dreshval to the capital of the province to petition the leaders there. While collecting water, Dee tells Duncan about her reason for travelling: her magic teacher left her village in search of a monster and she wishes to find him and bring him home safely. Duncan then tells Dee the truth about his wandering: he was a former military captain who allowed his king to be killed under his watch. Disgraced, he left to find some way of atonement. Dee tells him that he shouldn't spend his years with the burden of guilt. Before he can respond, the two are attacked by an enormous bipedal creature. Dee disables it, only to learn there are four others. Unable to run, Dee reasons with the creatures, learning that they are enemies of the Wraiths and also friends of Shiva.

The creatures, a group of huukup called the Tenga Boys, have come from the mountains to track the Wraiths. Led by Krop, the five join with Dee's group and lead them into the forest to the supposed lair of the Wraiths. They come to a region called the Withered Lands, a former battlefield believed to be cursed with the inability to host life caused by the thousands who died there. Initially afraid to go forward, Dee tricks the huukups to enter the Withered Land. While passing through a graveyard, they are ambushed by Ural, who intends to kill Dee in order to pass his master's test to become a full sorceror. He is able to hold back the group by hiding in the mist and summoning corpses to fight for him and almost kills Dee. Fenris intervenes at the last moment, disabling Ural's magic by shooting an arrow through his hand. Ural's master appears,steals the watch from Dee, and tries to burn all of them, including Ural, in a magical fire. Using Fenris' happiest moment as a source of energy, Dee allows the group to escape the flames before falling unconscious.

While asleep, Dee dreams of a memory when she was four in her home village. A mage was found guilty of treason and is thrown into exile, being led in a shameful parade to the village gates. Dee recognizes this man as Ural's master, Sek'hai Khigal, who was also her own magic teacher's master. She wakes, and after explaining the truth to Ural and showing compassion, he relents and decides to take the group to Sek'hai. Meanwhile, Duncan and Krop decide to collaborate after the upcoming battle in easing tensions between the races of the Allied Tribes.

That night, Ural leads the group to a delapidated tower where Sek'hai and the remaining Wraiths of Carul are. He then leaves, saying he no longer wishes to help or harm Sek'hai. Because of their size, the huukup cannot make their way all the way up the tower and instead attract the attention of the Wraiths to the first floor while Dee and the others find Sek'hai above. The group is attaked by lesser demons conjured by Sek'hai. Fenris is greatly injured as Dee races to save his life. Duncan, seeing Sek'hai as the assassin who killed his king, chases the sorceror to the next level. There, Sek'hai reveals his intentions: to use an incantation within the pocket watch to summon a demon into his body and gain the power to destroy Erebia Village, which exiled him. He tells Duncan the idea came from Dee's master, Amadeus, who had accidentally done the same thing with a very powerful demon to save his comrade and likely died as a result. Duncan attacks Sek'hai, taking a mortal wound in order to tear into Sek'hai's decomposing body. However, he is unable to prevent Sek'hai from channeling the demon.

When the other three arrive above, they find Sek'hai as a deformed monster, having taken the demon into him. Dee uses the power of the stars and is able to restrain Sek'hai, who despite his power cannot efficiently manage his new body. The demon takes this opportunity to take control and breaks out in a rage to kill Dee. She lures it away from the others by leaping from the window. The demon is unharmed from the fall and kills one of the Huukup before chasing Dee into a marsh. Ural reappears and helps to wound the demon before being gravely injured himself. Krop, Fenris, and Shiva race out to find Dee and are together able to finally bring the demon down. Enraged at the demon's attack against Duncan and Ural, Dee relentlessly attacks it's corpse until she breaks down. Remembering Duncan, she runs back to find him about to die. Her magic is drained and she is unable to save him, but Duncan tells her he is happy to die having helped others.

The next morning, Duncan and two fallen Huukup are buried at the battle site. Ural's body had disappeared, and his fate is left unknown. Krop and the remaining Huukup part ways with Dee, Fenris, and Shiva, deciding to follow through with the plan to improve race relations in the province. While at the province capital, Fenris and Shiva decide to remain a team and continue travelling to do good in the world. Dee, however, decides to continue the search for her master, unaware of his fate.

Main Characters

 * Diatyallah "Dee" Gatti — An apprentice Astrusian mage from Erebia Village on a journey to find her magic teacher in Western Carul.
 * Fenris Bartok — A wandering conman who is saved by Dee and later joins her in hunting the Wraiths.
 * Shiva Windrider — A wood elf who made her way to Dreshval in search of the Wraiths.
 * Duncan Cairn — A disgraced knight who wanders the continent trying to appease his guilty conscience.
 * Krop —Leader of the Tenga Boys.
 * Ural Lukroft — A young sorceror who is obsessed with wiping out the Astrusians.
 * Sek'hai Khigal — An exiled Astrusian mage who formed the Wraiths of Carul in order to get revenge against Erebia Village.

Connections to The Kyoto Ordeal
To Touch the Sky makes mention to all of the main characters of The Kyoto Ordeal except Ayumi Hiwatari:
 * Adam Evans/The Angry Alter Ego is mentioned by Duncan as he recounts to Dee how he became Captain of the Guard of Wensfell Keep. Interestingly, in The Kyoto Ordeal, Adam tells Mathias this same story from his point of view and mentions Duncan, though not by name.
 * The Creator Most High is referred to by several characters throughout the book.
 * Mathias Silvos appears in a newspaper with several articles detailing the Liberation of Magid.
 * New Baggins/The Baggins is mentioned by Dee as she explains that the War of The Baggins is her favorite childhood story. Duncan tries to convince her that the story is just a legend, as the Creator has covered up most of the evidence that the war actually occured. Dee tells Duncan if she would ever meet a god or someone with godlike powers, she would show them to Duncan as proof. Dee eventually will meet such characters, but only after Duncan's death.
 * Cody Moon is mentioned in the same story Dee tells Duncan as she relates the War of The Baggins.