All her life, Isabella was taught to hide what she was. Magic is dangerous.
She was trained in all the womanly arts: sword, gun, and horse. She excelled at each and made her aunt proud. A perfect heir to the Sternburg. She would have been the greatest Margrave her Shard had ever known. Yet, the clarion call of the fire deep in her soul haunted her.
Like calls to like.
Demons lurk in the darkness at the edges of the world. Their hungry eyes constantly search for the spark of a kindred spirit. Their ears wait for the call that will let them in. Their claws constantly stretch the fabric of reality endlessly seeking a tear. Seeking a soul.
When her lover’s life was at risk, Isabella reached for the fire and used it to save Helen.
For that, she was condemned to the pyre. Everything that she could have been turned to ashes in the wind and all that remained was the fire. As her flesh was consumed, her soul was laid bare – a demon of fire and stone. Blinded with fury, she rained destruction down on her people.
Then the Hunter came.
With his gun he struck her down and collared her with the ice-cold power of Winter. Now, she is nothing but a slave. A prisoner of a stranger who drags her, unceasingly, towards the Imperial City to face the judgement of the Kin, the divine matriarchy that rules the world. They will decide what she becomes, a demon or a sorcerer.
Like calls to like.
When the world is broken, and teetering on the abyss, every choice matters and a single person can tip it over or hold it up.