Aethermarked
Book One: Ashes of the Phoenix The world of Eryndral has never known peace for long. Across its eight kingdoms, kings, queens, lords, and war-hungry nobles claw for power while their settlements....
Book One: Ashes of the Phoenix The world of Eryndral has never known peace for long. Across its eight kingdoms, kings, queens, lords, and war-hungry nobles claw for power while their settlements bleed beneath the weight of old grudges and rising ambition. But above soldiers, crowns, and common folk stand those touched by something older than any throne. The Aether. It is the source of all magic in Eryndral, a living force said to flow from the gods themselves. Rarely, a person is born with the ability to connect to it. These chosen few are known as Aetherials. Each Aetherial forms a bond with a mythical creature infused with elemental power, a creature tied directly to their lifeforce, able to be summoned at will and called upon in battle. Through that bond, an Aetherial gains power, status, and the attention of every kingdom desperate to control them. Sylas never expected to be one of them. To him, Aetherials were legends. Heroes in tavern songs. Warriors painted on banners. Figures too powerful and distant to have anything to do with a twelve-year-old farm boy from a quiet corner of the world. Then everything changed. During a horrific attack that shattered his family and stole the life he once knew, Sylas awakened to a bond no one could explain. His creature was not noble light, pure flame, or any element the Guild would have easily accepted. It was Ignisyr, a phoenix born of shadow and fire, beautiful, terrifying, and bound to Sylas in ways he still does not fully understand. Five years later, on his seventeenth birthday, Sylas is summoned by the Aetherial Guild and ordered to travel to the capital to register his bond. For most, registration is an honor. For Sylas, it feels more like stepping into a cage dressed in gold. The capital offers him more than paperwork. It offers a chance to compete in the Guild entrance trials, where young Aetherials prove their strength before nobles, instructors, rivals, and enemies hiding behind polite smiles. On the road, Sylas crosses paths with Dren, a fierce and stubborn Aetherial bonded to a metal wolf. What begins as rivalry quickly becomes something neither of them expected: trust, brotherhood, and a friendship forged sharp enough to survive battle. In the capital, Sylas also meets Eris, a gifted Aetherial from a powerful family, bonded to a shadow-and-air tiger. Proud, polished, and raised among the elite, Eris seems at first like everything Sylas distrusts about the capital. But beneath her sharp tongue and noble arrogance is someone carrying her own burdens, and the closer they are forced together, the harder it becomes for either of them to ignore what is growing between them. As Sylas steps into the world of the Guild, he begins to realize his bond may be more dangerous than anyone is willing to say. And in Eryndral, power is never simply gifted. It is claimed, feared, hunted, and paid for in blood.
Disclaimer: This show may contain expletives, strong language, and mature content for adult listeners, including sexually explicit content and themes of violence. This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to real persons, businesses, places or events is coincidental. This show is not intended to offend or defame any individual, entity, caste, community, race, religion or to denigrate any institution or person, living or dead. Listener's discretion is advised.
