Royce Clifford wakes on a cold stone altar with no memory of how he got there, and with a power he never had before. Once an ordinary man, he now holds immense sorcery: unearned, unexplained, and not his to remember.

He is one of five. The other four tore through cities and left ash and grief behind them. Even after they were captured, the fear stayed. Now the country is hunting anyone with that power, and Royce has no choice but to hide.

With only his younger sister beside him, he runs from the hunt into a world far uglier than he imagined: cities razed in the name of control, festivals staged to cover massacres with music and firelight. Every encounter carries risk. Every ally hides a motive. Trust is something he can't afford.

And beneath it all, a truth keeps echoing in his head about why he was given this power.

When he crosses paths with a rebel faction, Royce is forced to choose a side in a world where no one is right, himself included. But the man who swore never to destroy begins to fear what his power could make him do.

Fortresses fall. Secrets surface. And as the world takes notice, those who rule from the shadows begin to stir. Some doors, once opened, cannot be closed.