This Bright and Terrible Place

AI was used to assist as a thesaurus, and helping with fantasy-heavy names of characters because I have a bad habit of naming people after random objects (I once wrote a main character named Floor), and I didn't want to do that this time.

Desperate to matter in a dismal dangerous world, Fig claws his way from the street gutters and into a pile of aspirant warriors, all vying to win the Contest of Embers and become heir-apprentice to the great and power Wizard Marteth. But the cost of winning is massive, and the prize ends up all the more worse than Fig could ever have imagined.

Now on a quest for vengeance in an unfamiliar world, Fig is surrounded by a light and kindness that he struggles to believe could be real, or safe. But as he’s pulled deeper into a quiet rebellion and a strange new belonging, Fig must decide if he can become more than what survival taught him to be.