Throne of Darkness (Awakening the Lightforged: Book One)

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Tag all your sci-fi, fantasy, science-fantasy, dystopian, and apocalyptic loving friends in this chapter so they can enjoy this with you!

Make sure you read the content warnings, pronunciation guide, and reading order below! The Prologue releases on July 2nd!

Throne of Darkness is the first book in a series that contains a complete trilogy, and a companion novel/prequel.Though you can read The Last Knight at any point during the trilogy, I originally intended for it to be read between Throne of Darkness and Sanctuary.If you would like to read the series in chronological order, read the prologue of Awakening the Lightforged: Deathknight, then read The Last Knight in its entirety before moving on to the rest of the series.

Trilogy:

Throne of Darkness

Sanctuary

The Shattering

Companion/Prequel:

The Last Knight

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There is a map included in this book. If you want to see a full-color, high resolution version to follow along with, you can find one on my website at:https://www.spencerrussellsmith.com/art

Content Warnings This story contains some difficult material. I do not put these in for shock value, and try my best to approach these thoughtfully, but I encourage you to take care when reading if any of the below is something you hard for you to read.

This is a non-exhaustive list of content warnings:

Graphic

Violence, death, dead bodies, blood, loss of limb, death of a spouse, concentration camp, death of a child (off screen), death of family (off screen), forced migration (off screen)

Moderate

Suicide, imprisonment, enhanced interrogation/torture (implied), suicidal thoughts (implied), drug use, alcohol use, authoritarian regime, cursing, fade-to-black seduction and intimacy.

Minor

Injury details, innuendo

* * *

Note:

I am lucky enough that I have rarely needed content warnings when consuming media except in the case of graphic horror (just can't do it), so if there is anything in this book that I have missed listing above that causes you distress, please accept my sincerest apologies, and if you wouldn't mind, please let me know so that I can add it to the list in this book and on my website to prevent others from having a similar experience.

A Brief Glossary of Auroramantic Abilities

Samjati Abilities

Violetnodes: sap heat from the air or produce ice

Aquanodes: manipulate existing ice or water

Greennodes: push and pull ice and water

Greynodes: enhance strength and durability

Clearnodes: enhance sensory perception

Opalnodes: flare other abilities

Orangenodes: see into the past

Yellownodes: manipulate luck, chance, coincidence

Rednodes: produce and manipulate darklight

Bluenodes: steal Auroralight from others

Ambernodes: limited precognition

Blacknodes: hide uses of Auroramancy

Natari Abilities

Violetnodes: produce heat, fire, and lightning

Aquanodes: manipulate existing fire or lava

Greennodes: push and pull volcanic rock and lava

Greynodes: enhance stamina and agility

Clearnodes: enhance sensory perception

Opalnodes: flare other abilities

Orangenodes: see into the past

Yellownodes: manipulate luck, chance, coincidence

Rednodes: produce and manipulate hardlight

Bluenodes: transfer Auroralight to others

Ambernodes: limited precognition

Blacknodes: detect uses of Auroramancy

Notes on Pronunciation

This note is intended to clarify the pronunciation of names in the different languages of Efruumani.

Consonants

C: though not often used for names in this book, always has the value of k, never s

J: always has the value of y as in your, or yell

G: always has the sound of English g in get.

The apostrophe marks a glottal stop, which can be pronounced like an English double-consonant: n'n for example, would be pronounced as the nn in unnamed, as opposed to unaimed.

Vowels

A: always has the value of a in mark or kart

AA: always has the value of a in cake or tame

AI: always has the value of y in sky or of i in kite

E: always has the value of e in let or ten

I: always has the value of e in free or preen

Y: always has the value of i in kick or bid

O: always has the value of o as in okay or omen

UU: always has the value of the oo or ew sounds as in pool or stew

Posting Schedule

Chapters are posted every Tuesday and Thursday.Subscribers get to read them a week in advance of free readers.Most chapters are of a similar, standard length, but there are short ones and long ones that balance one another out.If there is a change in posting schedule, it will likely be due to chapter length, or just an increase in schedule.