Payton Evans

In the town of Ashenport, 14-year-old Mara Bennett has always felt out of place. With a knack for solving puzzles and an insatiable curiosity, she spends her days exploring the forests and old ruins surrounding her home. One day, she stumbles upon a strange, glowing key hidden in the roots of an ancient tree. The key is warm to the touch and hums softly, as if alive. Mara soon discovers that the key unlocks a portal to Lumina, a parallel world where the land is slowly dying.
Lumina was once vibrant, but darkness is spreading - and it has something to do with Mara's family, whose forgotten legacy ties her to this world. With the help of her sarcastic but loyal friend Eli and a fierce winged creature named Nyx, Mara must uncover the truth about her family's past and find a way to save both Lumina and her world. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more she realizes the biggest battle may be within herself - accepting who she is and learning how to trust others when the weight of two worlds rests on her shoulders.