Earth, centuries after the collapse. No one remembers how it began—only that the world was shattered by Beasts, incomprehensible beings whose power warped the land and everything in it. Cities fell. Nature twisted. The world split into three realms, each more dangerous and unpredictable than the last. Humanity survived in fragments, clawing for life amidst the wreckage. Every attempt to rebuild ends in ruin, their greatest triumphs swallowed by the ever-looming darkness. No one remembers the old world. No one dares dream of a new one. A boy wakes up alone in the heart of the Mire, the worst district of the decaying city of Thornridge. He doesn’t know his name, his past, or how he ended up here. The people of the Mire call him James Forsyth, a name that feels unfamiliar, like wearing someone else’s skin. Life in Thornridge is bleak, its people haunted by the whispers of lesser beasts and the shadow of the Beasts that tower above them all. Yet James survives, stumbling through a fractured existence with no memory of where he came from. One day, James discovers something buried deep inside him—a strange power he neither understands nor trusts. It grows stronger each day, bringing him both hope and dread. Then, as whispers of a safe haven reach his ears, a stranger steps into his life, carrying secrets that will change everything. For better or worse, James’s journey has begun. And the world will never be the same.