A reluctant mage. A kingdom in ruins. To save his realm, one young man must become what he fears most...No one knows exactly what the mages did; almost all of them died in the Fall, and the few who were left were hunted down and killed. For a hundred years, the once great mage cities have been left empty and abandoned by those too afraid to venture inside. Those drawn by their curiosity or in search of power have never returned.
There are still those born with magical abilities, but magic is so feared and hated that they know better than to let those abilities be known.
Finn knows magic is dangerous. He knows that it destroyed the world he loves, that it causes madness in those who attempt to wield it. He saw firsthand what it did to his best friend.
But Finn is finding that you can't escape who you are.
On the run from the aftermath of a horrible disaster, trying to protect his little sister, knowing that he himself is the biggest danger to her, Finn meets an old mage who will challenge everything he thought was true about the world, and the mage's apprentice, a reckless, beautiful wind mage who will make him question everything he thought he knew about magic.
But they aren't looking for him. They're looking for his sister.
Six-year-old Kel loves bugs and plants and the feel of the grass beneath her head as she looks up into the sky, watching the birds overhead, imagining that she is one of them. She has never thought about the wider world, the mages, or even the troubles between her parents. She builds nests for birds, and homes for ants, and waters the thirsty-looking plants in her mother's garden when her mother is away on one of her long, mysterious walks.
She loves her older brother, and she doesn't question him when he says they have to run. She can't quite remember what happened, and she's never seen him this afraid, but she trusts him, knows that he will protect her.
As they flee to the forest, Kel finds something waiting for her, and that she might be the one to protect her older brother.
If it comes to choosing between his sister and magic, what will Finn decide? And will Kel still choose to trust her brother once she learns the truth?
