In a world where magic is law and bloodlines are destiny; one boy was never meant to rise.
Every ten years, the Convergence Games choose the most powerful young mages to compete for glory-and survival. But when the sentient Chalice selects Nico Drellin, an untested outcast with no known lineage and haunted dreams, the sacred order shatters. He never volunteered. He was never supposed to exist.
Now hunted by the Ashbringers, feared by the High Circle, and marked by a prophecy older than the Games themselves, Nico is thrust into a deadly arena of twisted trials, ancient rivalries, and magical assassins who bend death to their will. Among dragon-guarded skybridges and sentient labyrinths, he begins to unravel the truth of his blood-a secret tied to a long-buried guild of killer-sorcerers and a flame that once threatened to burn the world clean.
But power comes at a cost. Allies fall. Truths betray. And as enemies close in from every shadow, Nico must choose: become the weapon they fear... or ignite a rebellion they'll never see coming.
The Hollow Flame is rising.
And the war has just begun.