Tithed

Doggerland, 2128 AD
The ice ages have come to claim the land once again, and people have long since taken to calling the land once known as Europe, Doggerland. As the ice thickens and spreads ever further south, the government, in a desperate bid to push it back, takes a tithe of the strongest mages each year and sends them north to try and find out the cause of the endless winter. The date of the 997th tithe is now visible on the horizon, and Doggerland is once again searching for a list of six names to be read out and summoned on the 1st December, 2128.
For Kai, he's known this day was coming ever since he can remember. Born in the capital of Doggerland - London - he has been trained to survive. To find out why. To be the one to push back the ice. To be the one to survive. Because no mage, not once in a thousand years, has ever come back. But Kai knows he has what it takes - and that's not the only reason he's desperate to go north.
For Knox, his parents killed in the rebel uprising fifteen years ago, the tithe represents everything he yearns to destroy. Doggerland's government maintains a generous and dependable image, but Knox knows the cruelty of the tithe, and the six mages who vanish each year aren't symbols of hope - they're sacrifices. Blessed with the rare and powerful ability to control fire, he knows he'll be selected for the tithe. And when he is, he'll bring down Doggerland, and everything it stands for.
As the date of the tithe draws closer, Knox and Kai will be thrown into the affairs of the government - and the four other mages chosen to go with them. But will this year be any different? Or will the encroaching ice swallow them whole?