Part 1: The City

Sometimes running is the only option.

After a flu pandemic devastated the old world, the Archipelago offered humanity's only hope for safety, sanctuary and continuation. Hundreds of years later, paranoia and fear of the world beyond fuels political, religious and ideological isolationism and a brutal approach to strangers from outside.

Caerlin Kengarl, a charismatic smuggler, feels anything but safe when she decides to keep a fortune in stolen drug money. When she becomes implicated in the murder of a noble-born dealer with powerful connections, she has no choice but to run.

Aaron Fuidinniel is an orphan, wrestling with his conscience. When he refuses to carry out orders and shows mercy, defending the Isles, his future is uncertain. When he saves Caerlin by committing murder he condemns both of them.

To escape certain torture and death, they attempt something forbidden: flight to the open ocean and the world beyond. Pushing against the fear of what's beyond and escaping the forces pursuing them, they also battle with their own histories.

Cover photo by Pok Rie from Pexels