Thief-Lord of Light, Dragon-King of Shadow

The first entry in my Thief-Lords of Chiaroscuro series. WARNING: This entry is novella-length and a lot more mature than my usual works as its an homage to cyberpunk and heist stories and features dragons. Contains violence, harsh language, discussion and scenes of pain, torture, imprisonment, sex, exploitation and slavery, most offscreen.

Chiaroscuro. Far-flung future home of humanity, a shadow-shrouded city-world of forty billion humans and their bloodthirsty dragon overlords. And of course, home to the infamous thief-lords of the Free Sector.

Akio Harper is the fallen son of a privileged family of the floating Stormstratum cities, reduced to scrounging and stealing on the streets of the lowest levels of the endless city of shadow and light. One day in the gods-forsaken Bone Market, he discovers an ancient artifact of flesh-glass that allows him to warp reality and wield immense power.

Years later, young Akio has become the Lord of the Hellfire Horde and Master of the Demon's Tower, determined to put an end to the most corrupt of humanity, the crime-lords and the chattel-sellers, the twisted Dark Arcanists and the sadistic draqomorphs who voluntarily converted into creatures more akin to their draconic masters, uncaring as they see their fellow humans shackled and swallowed by monsters.

At long last, Akio has a plan to get back at the dragons and stop their plans to truly become gods. Will he and his ragtag crew of oddballs be able to overcome rival gangs, endless security grids and artifacts from before the dawn of time and stop their murderous monster-lords in time?