The First Stone

I didn’t choose to be an Ignarus Myth, a human born with power over fire. Doesn’t matter, though. I’m only seen as a threat. It wasn’t always like that for my kind. Centuries ago, Myths were symbols of awe. I was born a few hundred years too late. By the time I arrived, that awe had long turned to horror. The first Nightmares had appeared and nearly wiped out the world. Then everyone learned what they really were. Mutated Myths.

Civilization collapsed. From the ashes rose the Prism Spire.

Its leader, a brilliant inventor and geneticist known as the Arbiter, built one hundred compounds, fortified with colossal walls, to shelter the survivors. The man who saved humanity became my greatest enemy. He decreed that every Myth, except for a few Exempt he deemed essential, must take the Pax Serum, erasing their powers and the Nightmare gene forever. Those of us who refuse are hunted by augmented human soldiers called Grafters.

Evelon and I live beyond those walls, hiding. Unlike other Myths, we hide not because of what I am, but because the Arbiter has declared my powerless little sister the most wanted person alive. We don’t even know why. Neither of us remembers anything past two years ago. So we search for answers while we struggle to survive.

Our life was manageable, even pleasant at times, just her and me in the wild. Then she started coughing blood. The only cure lies inside the REZ, a volatile neutral zone where civilians and Myths coexist under a fragile, fake peace.

Desperate to save her, I made one stupid mistake, and it drew the attention of Felix, a high-ranking Grafter who preys on the vulnerable.

Forced into a fight for our lives, I face a fate far worse than death.