Bounded

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Beneath the jagged spires of the Ashen Peaks, where the bones of fallen gods are said to rest, lies Hearth's End-a village frozen in fear, its streets lined with whispered prayers that go unanswered. Ember is a ghost in her own life, walking among the villagers who cross themselves in her shadow, clutching iron charms to ward off the hum that pulses in her veins-a primordial force that bends light into blades and shatters the world with a single touch.

When she saves a drowning child by turning the frozen millpond into molten glass, the fragile peace of the village crumbles. Cast out, Ember is sent to Obsidian Academy, a fortress carved into the mountainside, where she is told she will learn to control her power. But Obsidian is no sanctuary. Its labyrinthine halls are a forge, molding students into weapons for a war whispered in shadows. Here, fire-wielders and shadow-binders train under cold, calculating instructors who measure their worth in blood. And Ember's ability-to both create and consume energy-marks her as both a coveted prize and a dangerous threat.

But the mountains hide darker secrets than Ember ever imagined. Whispers swirl through Obsidian's halls of an ancient hunger stirring in the void, of hollow-eyed figures who once sought power and now wear their corruption like crowns, draining life to ash with a single touch. And they are coming. For the academy. For her.