Echo of Light, An

In a city poisoned by corrupted magic, a scholar named Chloe has become a walking cataclysm, a vessel for a terrifying, world-breaking power she cannot control. Her only protector is Lucas Underwood, a ruthless killer from the city's underbelly, a man of shadow and secrets bound to her by a debt of guilt that is rapidly becoming something more. Hunted by the fanatical Vindicators of the Luminant Order, they flee through a decaying world where Scourge-born monstrosities stalk the alleys, drawn to the chaotic energy that bleeds from Chloe’s very soul. Their desperate flight for survival becomes a race against annihilation when the Order's High Chancellor unleashes the Nullification: a holy ritual that will erase all magic from the city, murdering thousands in its sanctified wave of Purity. To stop the cleansing, Chloe and Lucas must forge an unthinkable alliance with a traitorous Vindicator, a man of faith whose conscience has been broken by the monsters he serves. Their only hope lies in a perilous quest to a forgotten, ancient citadel, a place of impossible power that holds the key to controlling Chloe’s cataclysmic gift. But their quest for salvation is a lie, a meticulously crafted trap set by an enemy of unimaginable power and ambition. In the heart of the Aethelburg, truths will be shattered, loyalties will be betrayed, and a bond forged in sacrifice and fire will become the last, defiant weapon against a foe who seeks to silence the world forever. For in a war between absolute light and absolute shadow, the only hope may be the chaotic, beautiful, and terrifying balance between them.