Long ago stood the kingdom of Requiem, a land of men who could grow wings and scales, breathe fire, and take flight as dragons. Requiem ruled the sky. But Dies Irae, a tyrant leading an army of griffins, hunted Requiem's people, burned their forests, and shattered their temples. Requiem fell. This ancient land now lies in ruin, its halls crumbled, its cries silenced, its skeletons littering the burned earth. In the wilderness, a scattering of survivors lives in hiding. The griffins still hunt them, and every day promises death. Will Requiem's last children perish in exile... or once more become dragons and fly to war?

Seventeen-year-old April Parker wakes up in an underground facility, a shock bracelet on her wrist and a five-day countdown on the clock. Dozens of other teens share her inexplicable fate, but their unseen captors never intervene no matter how brutal conditions become. When the ruthless - and unnervingly magnetic - Marcus seizes control, April's trauma-forged instinct is to lay low. But protecting her friends drives her to bargain with the boy she should fear most - a boy whose reality fractures with every tick. Then the countdown ends, and the real terror begins. Powers ignite. Alliances shatter. And predators are born. And with a saboteur among them determined to keep the doors closed forever, escaping what comes next may be the only way to survive it.

There was not anything seemingly frightening about Thea, but she could stop a man dead in their tracks without even lifting a finger. She is an Empath, one with the rare ability to sense and manipulate the emotions of those around her. Her uncle, the king, uses this to his own advantage, forcing Thea to do his bidding. But under his majesty's rule, the kingdom has fallen into ruin, with the Red Fever running rampant. There are whispers of an uprising, their sole purpose to restore order to the land. With pressure mounting, Thea is not sure how much more her powers can take before madness sets in. Will she side with the rebels and return Lyria to its former glory, or will Thea remain under her uncle's rule and protect the only family she has left? I have altered the original cover for this to fit the story with permission from the original artist to use her work. This talented lady can be found here: http://yolandablazquez.deviantart.com/