A prequel to the Nightstar series, but can be read on its own. Petre has experienced a lot in their years serving as a soldier in the Lys-Akkarian army, but being assigned as General Ainreth Tyr-Naralyn's second-in-command is certainly a shock even to them. However, what first seems to be quite a nice situation, aside from Ainreth being obnoxious, goes wrong very fast. [word count: 13 000 words]

Fennrin is a shadowforger, a type of az-ari who have mastery over shadows. But all it's ever brought him is misery. People are afraid of the power that he himself barely understands, seeing his shadows as omens of bad luck and death. Forced to barely scrape by since his parents disowned him, Fennrin's life takes a turn when he is approached by Ainreth, a lightweaver and famous general, asking him to come with him to the royal court to be trained and help him stave off an assassin who's made an attempt on Ain's life, somehow able to counteract his powers. Even though Fennrin is suspicious of Ainreth's flirting and his arrogant attitude, Fennrin decides to go with him because his life can't get much worse. Thrust into a world of politics and power, Fennrin quickly learns just why shadowforgers are so infamous and how strong he could become, while, much to his chagrin, starting to fall for Ainreth. However, unwelcome feelings are only the start of his problems as the neighboring, tyrannical monarchy is preparing for war. And if Fennrin wants to survive, he will have to fight it. [word count: ≈ 90 000 words] ★ Featured on @Fantasy, @adultfiction, @StoriesUndiscovered, and @lowfantasy ★ [Nano Watt 2025 Winner]

After their decisive victory over Orinovo, Lys-Akkaria's army crosses the border to take back territory that used to be theirs. With the combined forces of a lightweaver and shadowforger, Orinovo doesn't stand a chance. In spite of their newfound advantage, Ainreth finds himself doubting the war effort, though his concerns go unvoiced as freeing Lys-Akkarian minorities of Orinovan oppression takes precedence. Things, however, get much more complicated when they discover an ongoing conspiracy among the Orinovan monarchy. With a threat like this looming over them, the Lys-Akkarian leaders call for a siege to end the war before the problem becomes much worse. Ainreth's doubts of the warfare only continue to fester still, even despite the clear neccessity of the drastic measures being taken, resulting in high tensions. He and Fennrin argue more and more with each passing day, and things only escalate from bad to worse when Daryan Varilik gets involved with his own hidden agenda.

Imprisoned in the Orinovan priori labs, Ainreth undergoes torturous treatments daily in an attempt to crack the code to lightweaver creation. Things seem hopeless, until unlikely allies join his side to help him. Meanwhile back home in Lys-Akkaria, Mhalyn works with the rebels to come up with a rescue plan to get Fennrin out of Daryan's clutches and ensure he permanently loses his power over the country. With the ongoing war still a looming threat, powerful tyrranical leaders on both sides who will stop at nothing to protect their secrets and positions, and their most powerful az-ari indisposed in enemy territory, everything is stacked against them. Can they come up with a plan to fix this catastrophe before it's too late for everyone?