POV

Kai Ardent is a Hero. At least, that's what the Government told him.

In a city choked by shadow and "Monsters," Kai and his team are the thin line between peace and extinction. Gifted with extraordinary abilities born from their darkest times, they serve the very authorities that gave them a purpose after the orphanage fire that took everything. Kai plays the part of the perfect soldier-a goldenboy born on a foundation of ash and a promise made to a dead man..

"Don't become a monster like me Kit"

But when the world is screaming for a savior, how can he keep his word? To save the innocent, Kai decides to break his vow. To the public, he is the beacon of hope. To the Government, he is an asset. But to himself, Kai is a ticking time bomb.

Beneath the polished armor, the cracks are beginning to show. Doubt is a poison, and it's starting to bleed into his reality. He was raised to believe in the cause, but the math of justice no longer adds up. If the enemies he slays are the villains, why does victory feel like a crime? Something is wrong, and the deeper he looks, the more he fights for the light, the more he realizes he might be serving the dark.

Kai Ardent was told he was a Hero. But in a city built on lies, the only way to do "good" might be to become the very thing he was taught to not become.