A Kingdom of Shattered Wings and Rising Shadows

I spent my life mending the past, one silk thread at a time. Safe behind the ancient stone walls of the Vance estate, I believed history was a shield that could keep the world at bay. I was wrong. History wasn’t my protection; it was my debt.When my sister Elara vanished from the prestigious Flighthaven Academy, the Crown didn’t offer a search party—they offered a cage. To save my mother from a debtor's grave, I am forced to assume Elara’s identity and take her place among the elite dragon-riders of Aclaris. There’s just one problem: I am a preservationist who is paralyzingly terrified of the sky.My survival depends on Julian Thorne. He is the academy’s most brilliant instructor, a master of "Rising Shadow" magic, and a man who believes the past is a rot to be purged. He is as cold as steel and twice as sharp. He views me as a fragile relic of a dying era, yet the soul-mark burning on our wrists tells a different story. We are fated. He looks at me with a hunger that feels like hatred, and I look at him as the man who will either teach me to fly or watch me shatter at terminal velocity.But as our bond reaches its breaking point, I realize that Flighthaven isn't a school. It’s a refinery.The high-tension rivalry we perform for the cameras hides a horrific structural betrayal. The "Fated Mates" of Aclaris aren't heroes—we are fuel. We are being primed to feed an ancient, cosmic hunger that has turned our kingdom into a farm for broken souls.In a world where shadows rise and wings are shattered, I must stop trying to survive the modern and start weaponizing the historical. I have to find the strength to stitch the light and shadow together before the final harvest claims us both. The sky is screaming for a sacrifice, and our love is the only thing dangerous enough to either mend the world—or burn the narrative to ash.