Shadows of Light

Iris never wanted to be a warrior. She dreamed of warm days by the sea, the glow of the sun on her skin, and a life untouched by war. But fate never gave her a choice.

She was only a child when soldiers came to her home in Ikarus, searching for something-someone. Her mother and father fought to protect her and her twin sister, Eris, but in the end, their love wasn't enough. Five gunshots. Two lives stolen. Iris fled into the night, leaving behind the only family she had ever known.

She never looked back.

Now, years later, Ikarus has fallen, conquered by The Concord. Its people are either dead, enslaved, or forced to fight for the empire that destroyed them. And among The Concord's highest-ranking soldiers is someone Iris never expected to see again.

Eris.

The sister she abandoned. The sister who has spent years sharpening her hatred into a blade.

Captured and thrown into the heart of enemy territory, Iris must survive a world designed to break her. Her power over light, once wild and uncontrollable, has now become a weapon they seek to claim. But the greater danger isn't The Concord-it's the sister who stands against her. The sister who once loved her. The sister who now sees her as nothing more than a ghost of the past.

Iris knows she isn't strong enough to win. Not yet. If she wants to live, she'll have to fight. If she wants to escape, she'll have to outsmart the empire. And if she wants to stop Eris before it's too late... she'll have to become the one thing she never wanted to be.

A soldier.