Chapter 1: The Train to Obscura

At the edge of a crumbling world balanced between order and unraveling memory, the prestigious Obscura Academy trains the best and brightest in the art of Veincraft-magic woven from threads of time, emotion, and identity. Four factions divide its halls: Solis, Umbra, Aether, and Vermis-each with its own legacy, each guarding truths no one dares share aloud.
Imara Calen, fierce, unyielding, and newly marked by the Ember-an ancient sigil that should no longer exist-arrives at the academy bearing secrets even she doesn't fully understand. Drawn into a brutal competition, hunted by traditions she refuses to obey, Imara discovers that the power within her doesn't bend Veincraft. It rewrites it.
As faction rivalries erupt into violence and an ancient magical catastrophe known as the Hollow begins to stir, Imara uncovers long-buried relics, forbidden memories, and fragments of a world erased from history. The Ash Clock spins out of rhythm. Teachers disappear. And the Trials, once a ritual of passage, become a warzone.
A reluctant alliance forms in her wake-a rising movement called the Threadless, made of students who abandon faction loyalties to follow a new path. Among them is Dante Solen, top student of Solis and sworn to the old ways, whose dreams have always been haunted by a girl with burning eyes.
But the Veil is fraying. The Hollow is watching. And when the ancient Vigil of Nine descends to impose order, Imara must choose: save a system that fears her-or tear it open and become something entirely new.
The Pact is broken. The past is waking. And fire does not ask permission.