Greg_Harris_4507

In the gritty streets of Kallzara, a small wayside town where light barely touches the alleys, Revan Sorna survives by his wits—and by magic long forbidden. With the help of a shadowy tome found in forgotten ruins beneath the city, Revan can summon shadows to deceive and distract, but such power comes with a price: shadows cannot be created from nothing, and his own is lazy and stubborn, testing his patience at every turn.

Revan’s partner in crime, Cassie, is a clever con artist with a talent for ice magic and a convincing lost-girl act. Together, they make a perfect team, surviving by picking pockets, pulling cons, and running from those who would see their kind dead or worse.

Tonight’s target is an easy mark: a drunken sailor leaving The Golden Pig tavern. But when Revan’s swift theft is interrupted by a brutal punch, the simple job spirals into something far more dangerous—and far more personal.

As dark secrets from the ruins threaten to surface and enemies close in, Revan and Cassie must rely on their skills, their magic, and each other to survive. But in a town where shadow magic is heresy and trust is a currency rarer than gold, survival might just mean losing everything.

Where Shadows Walk

Location: Highridge Divide — the leyline convergence, now scorched and stillTime: One day after the Crown shattered

The leywinds had gone quiet. No pulsing light, no singing stone — just silence and sky, stretched wide over a fractured horizon.

Cassie stepped lightly over broken glyphstone, the frost in her palms dim now, more habit than power. Her eyes scanned the battlefield, but she already knew.

Revan crouched near the crater's edge, brushing his fingers over melted sigils.

His shadow curled slowly around his feet — no longer wild, but watchful.

"They did it," he murmured. "The Crown's gone."

"And the Masked Woman?" Elara asked, voice raw.

"Gone with it. Burned into memory, or something deeper."

The Scholar's Trace

They found the scholar's satchel, torn but intact.Inside: pages marked with ley-scars, and a single written line in familiar, hurried ink:

"There is no throne left to claim. Only a path forward — if you choose it."

A Choice Beyond Victory

The three stood at the center of what was once a war for power, legacy, and vengeance.

Revan shrugged slightly, a rare softness in his voice.

"We live. Not as fragments of what we lost… but as what we could become."

Elara stepped forward, sunlight flickering in her storm-tossed hair.

"Then let's rebuild something that doesn't need a Crown."

Together, they turned toward the distant horizon — fractured, yes, but open.

And from the ash of ambition, something quiet, and true, would begin.

Not with fire.Not with war.But with will.

End of Book One: The Hollow Crown

After the Fire