He was abandoned to die. Or so he thought. The truth is infinitely worse.
Mark is the finest scout in the Oathsworn Alliance, a warrior bound by duty and brotherhood. But when a tide of monstrous Voidwalkers overwhelms his fortress of Dawn's Pass, his world shatters. In the final, desperate moments, his closest comrades-his leader Ilina and his brother-in-arms Thomas-shove him into an unstable teleportation array and turn to face a god-like Void King alone.
Flung into a desolate, corrupted wasteland, Mark is consumed by a single, burning thought: betrayal. Fueled by a cold rage, he survives on instinct and hatred, vowing to find the truth and demand answers from those who forsook him.
But as he journeys through the remnants of a dying world, whispers of a different story reach him. Ilina and Thomas are not remembered as cowards, but as legendary heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice. This impossible contradiction forces Mark on a new quest to the last bastion of the Alliance, Storm's Shield, seeking a mysterious witness who holds the key to the past.
There, he discovers a conspiracy far deeper than simple betrayal. He is no mere survivor; he is a "vessel," unknowingly carrying a powerful secret that could turn the tide of the war-or make him the ultimate prize for the Void King. Now, the very evil his friends died to contain is hunting him personally.
To honor their memory and understand the crushing weight of their true legacy, Mark must return to the haunted ruins of Dawn's Pass. He must face the ghosts of his past and the monstrous entity sealed within, and finally choose between the bitter solace of vengeance and the terrifying responsibility of becoming the hero they believed him to be.
This is the first book in an epic dark fantasy series perfect for fans of grim realities, complex magic systems, and tales of sacrifice and redemption.
