A Soul Etched in Flame (#ONC2026)

Everyone fears the ancient creature trapped in the forbidden forest.
That's why the knights have come to kill it.

Maera Solene Wyld has never been what her coven wanted her to be; she was too volatile, too angry, too weak to carry her mother's legacy as the most powerful witch alive. Her magic fractures instead of obeying, her temper burns hotter than her spells, and for almost ten years, Maera's nights have been haunted by dreams of a stranger who feels like the missing half of her soul- when dreaming itself should be impossible.

When knights march into the cursed woods close to her coven's Sanctum, Maera begins to suspect the creature they hunt is tied to the strange dreams and warnings that have followed her for years; connections she doesn't yet understand- and saving it means turning against everything she was taught to fear: monsters, fate, and even herself.

Hunted by her kingdom, betrayed by prophecy, and driven by a rage she can barely control, Maera must choose whether she is a failure of her bloodline... or something far more dangerous.