Greed and ambition have nearly driven the kingdom of Aefither into ruin. Lily, one of Aefither's faithful guardians has suffered greatly. Imprisoned and punished for a crime she never committed, Lily sets off a series of events that threatens to destroy everyone. Aurnia is haunted by the promises she could never fulfill. A simple mission to find a reclusive goddess could be the answer to all her problems, there's just one problem. Old grudges have a habit of coming back to bite you. Orion is lost. Raised by two bickering aunts he's never had much time to figure out what he wants. Without much of a purpose he spends his time trying to live up to expectations, then one mistake catapults him into the center of an ancient dispute. As their paths begin to merge, both Orion and Aurnia begin to realise just how close they are walking the line between destruction and salvation. [COVER] The beautiful cover was made by @MoranaInDesign! [UPDATES] First week of each month [NOTE] "All Rights Reserved" means that no part of this work may be replicated elsewhere. I am only publishing this on W A T T P A D. I have not given anyone permission to repost my work. Read this anywhere else, it's a mirror site and you're at risk of malware attacks. This work is not to be used for AI training. [ACHIEVEMENTS] March 2021 - Featured in @WattpadDarkFantasy's "A Kingdom in Shadows" reading list. Sept 2021 - Featured in @Fantasy's "Dark Fantasy" reading list. Oct 2021 - Featured in @StoriesUndiscovered's "Into the Abyss" reading list. Third place in the 2021 Eunoia Awards! Sept 2022 - Featured in @Fantasy's "Hidden Fantasy Gems from Wattpad Outreach" reading list Fourth place in the 2022 Philosopher Awards! First place in batch three of the Lore Awards! Aug 2024 - Featured in @Fantasy's Dark Fantasy, Epic Fantasy and Serialised Spotlight reading lists April 2025 - Featured in @Fantasy's Ambassadors Picks reading list Nov 2025 - Featured in @Fantasy's Gods & Goddesses reading list

"With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood." Acts 1:18-19 ••• The year is 2100. North America and Asia are at war. After an unknown source pisses off the newly acquired leaders, Asian military forces release their biggest weapons on the opposing continent with absolutely no mercy: 6 one hundred megaton nuclear bombs. 90% of the population is destroyed. The only ones to survive are those on the outskirts: the small ring-like areas blown apart but unaffected by the radiation. One of those people is Alexandra Blake. Bruised and desperate, she must fight her way through the wreckage to find her family. She meets several others along the way, including a scarred, beautiful boy named Luke and his clan of warriors. But as tensions rise, the death toll does too, and it becomes clear that her family is the least of Alex's problems. There's something bigger going on, something massive, somehow involving Luke and the soldiers he leads. Tangled up in the mess, there's nothing she can do but sit back and watch it all unfold. 2016 @ psychxtichemmings

The Blood Moon Festival is a deadly competition that selects the next generation of dragon riders. Most competitors spend their childhood honing their Divine - a rare, godlike power typically found in the ruling class. But Raven Black, a poor orphan with an unusually powerful Divine, spent her childhood breaking more laws than she can count. At sixteen, Raven's list of crimes is taller than she is, and she is paying the price for it. Caught and sentenced to death after a heist gone wrong, Raven figures her luck has finally run out. That is until a dragon rider sees potential in Raven's Divine and offers her a chance to avoid execution by competing in the Blood Moon Festival. With no other choice, Raven enters Skydescent, a castle where contestants train and form alliances. As the only ex-criminal, Raven figured she would be the most cutthroat, her competitors too worried about honor to get their hands dirty. But in Scadril, a powerful dragon is honor. 128 competitors enter the Blood Moon Festival, and each will do whatever it takes to come out on top.