The Cursed Gift

Kian has spent his life in the shadows of Eldrinth, a city of gold and filth where the rich feast in gilded halls while the poor starve in the gutters. An orphan with no name worth remembering, he has survived by being quick, clever, and invisible.

But Kian is not like other beggars.

He has always sensed things others could not—the way the wind whispers secrets, the way shadows stretch toward him, the way locks open at his touch without a key. He dismissed it as luck. Until the night he was cornered by the city guards, and power erupted from within him—hurling men aside with a force that should not exist.

Magic is forbidden in Eldrinth. The Godmarked, those born with unnatural gifts, are hunted and erased from history. Now, the King’s Magi have heard the whispers of a boy who should not exist, and they will not rest until he is found.

With the kingdom’s most ruthless hunters on his trail, Kian must decide: keep running, or fight for the power that was never meant to be his?

Because deep in the heart of Eldrinth, beyond the reach of kings and priests, an ancient power stirs.

And it is waiting for him.