Book One: Two days before the solar eclipse, Elara’s world is no larger than the golden fields beyond her village gates, the rhythm of her days marked by the toll of the sunbell and the familiar warmth on her skin. The air smells of ripening grain and sun-warmed stone, and the only shadow she’s ever known is the one she casts herself.
But when the gods descend for the Eclipse Festival, the celebration she’s known all her life shatters—trumpets become war cries, blessings turn to demands, and the streets run dark with blood and ash. In the aftermath, Solavend lies in ruins, its people scattered or dead, and the sky itself feels heavy with something watching.
From the wreckage steps Kael—a stranger cloaked in midnight, with eyes like the last breath before nightfall and secrets sharp enough to draw blood. He is both danger and salvation, a tether pulling her toward a truth she has no right to touch and a game she cannot hope to win.
In a land ruled by immortal whims, where oaths can bind as tightly as chains and a single word from the gods can decide who lives and who burns, Elara must navigate a world remade in shadow.
And when the eclipse comes, she will have to choose: bow to the fire that would consume her… or become it herself.