Book 1 - The Mirage Wager (Gildersmoke - The First and Last Blade)

Gildersmoke is more than a city-it is a machine, grinding forward on gears of ambition, industry, and blood. Floating above it, Aethercrest's elite rule from their skyborne towers, while deep below, the Rust Docks and the Gutter fester with the discarded, the rebellious, and the forgotten. In the heart of it all lies The Ebon Mirage, a sanctuary of vice, power, and deception-where fortunes are won, secrets are gambled, and history is rewritten in shadows.
But something ancient has stirred.
When Nora Blackwood and Cass Dreymore take control of The Ebon Mirage, they find themselves entangled in a deadly game of power and prophecy. The discovery of the Eidolon Shard-a relic of impossible energy-turns Gildersmoke into a battlefield. Every faction, from the Ashgilt Syndicate's debt lords to House Valtieri's machine-masters, seeks to claim it. The Veilwardens whisper of the danger it poses, while rogue scholars speak of lost knowledge hidden in the city's depths.
Yet, Gildersmoke is not the only player in this war.
Across the world, great cities awaken to the storm brewing in Aethercrest.
Varkhala, The Merchant-Kings' Jewel, where assassins wield weapons that never miss.
Cauldrith, The City of Aetheric Glass, where time itself bends and knowledge comes at the cost of identity.
Ironmere, The Titan's Anvil, where sentient machines whisper in the dark.
Selvaris, The Blooming Labyrinth, where magitech and nature have merged into something... unnatural.
Ebonreach, The City Beneath the Tides, where a relic capable of erasing history itself has resurfaced.