Shattered Gods

My name is Xal and I live in the dims, a walled prison where my people are kept by cruel masters until we are needed to fight. One member of every family must answer The Call, for our blood bears the magic of a demonic god and all the terrible power that brings. We march to war against the Fomori — an unstoppable army of giants and their behemoths. If we do not, our families are put to death. If by some miracle I survive, I will be granted entrance to the Imperial Academy, where every noble house will vie to architect my end. They fear the rise of another dreadlord. And they are right to fear. I will pull down an empire — and that is just the beginning.

I am the reincarnation of a dark god — the prince of demons come again, and I am hunted. The Fomori have a prophecy about my return and have dispatched the Morrigan herself to slay me, even forging a special divine sword. Their armies of beastmen and giants march upon Hasra, and the ailing empire is in no shape to hold. My friends and I are sent to the Catalysts we control to gain more magic so that we can resist the Fomori advance. If we survive the journey, we will return to the war and break the Fomori — or die trying.

I have been sentenced to death for the crime of being born — of winning the Hasrans' war for them. But my death purchased the freedom of my people, and so I go to it gladly. The Imperator has decreed that I will be sacrificed in the Great Games, a sacred ritual requiring five god-souled reincarnations to be fed to the Gateway Arena. My life has narrowed to one purpose: live. Each day I train, and each week I fight. Harder and harder challenges until I die — for there is no escape, no reprieve. Once the ritual begins, it can only end with my death.

They sent me into the blasted lands to die. I refused. I lived. And now I return to the empire that discarded me — a god, rich with worship. I do not know what has become of Hasra, or the war with the Fomori. I do not know where Li is, or if her homeland still deals with the wyrm Khonsu. My sister and mother were freed as the reward for my blood price, but I have no idea what has become of them. It is time to go home, right old wrongs, and find the legacy left behind by my former incarnation. I am no longer a boy or a student. I am the prince of demons, and I have returned.

Four centuries ago the Stewards rained ash on the heartland of an empire for the year of a day, murdering the Elentian Empire and orphaning the Hasran Imperium. The ash drains magic, and any who ventures into the ashlands must contend with armies of unliving swimming beneath the soot. My final tomb lies somewhere in that terrible ocean. Before I can help Li or settle the Hasran civil war, I need to find it — to understand who and what I am if I am ever to fight my aunt or the demon princes she controls. I will sail into those uncharted lands, and I will prevail. The cycle depends on it.