Of Wings and Ember

By Chelsea DeGroat

What begins as sacred tradition becomes a crucible of identity-and what emerges may not be human.

In the Temple of the Ascendant Flame, Brann is a devout acolyte trained to accept sacrifice as divine will. But when his mentor, High Priest Theron, offers himself to the ancient dragon god during the Ashborn Cycle ritual, something inside Brann ruptures. Grief turns to doubt. Reverence twists into horror.

The ritual doesn't just awaken the dragon-it awakens Brann. As Theron dissolves into flame and smoke, Brann becomes the vessel for the dragon's rebirth. His body scorches with power he can't control, and the priests he once called kin brand him an abomination. Fleeing into the haunted wilderness, Brann's transformation accelerates as the dragon within grows restless, feeding on sorrow, betrayal, and vengeance.

Guided by a cryptic hermit named Elara and torn between destruction and redemption, Brann must reckon with buried truths. The Ashborn Cycle is no divine reckoning-it is a legacy of grief unhealed, seeded by a long-lost love and carried through generations like a curse. To end the cycle, Brann must confront both the entity within and the society that forged it.

Betrayal from within. Grief as prophecy. Nature as sanctuary. Vengeance vs. rebirth.

Brann doesn't fight for glory-he fights to forge a new kind of legacy. One not etched in flame, but in forgiveness.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FJYKRGYM
• ISBN13: 9798294067922
• Release Date: September 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"