Rifted

In a world where magic is bound by colour, one boy awakens with none.The Empire of Ithuriel stands divided among seven Orders of magic, each jealously guarding its power and weaving a sacred lie: that the Void beyond the Veil is only destruction. But the truth is far older and far more dangerous. The Void was once the Source itself—radiant, whole—until betrayal shattered it into hunger and silence.Ren Cael, an orphan abandoned at a village inn, never expected more than a quiet life of chores and lantern festivals. But when a knife meant for his throat halts midair at his unspoken command—without colour, without incantation—his life unravels. Declared an anomaly by Archmagister Corvallis and dragged before the Academy, Ren discovers that he is not fire, not shadow, not storm—he is something else. Something feared. Something erased from the histories.Placed among the Orderless—students cast out from every Colour—Ren finds allies as strange as himself: Kael, a flame-born warrior with too much defiance for Ignari discipline; Riven, a scion of nobility whose poise hides a blade; Silas, an Umbrancy exile walking with shadows; Tyven, an alchemical prodigy too reckless for Verdara; and Lira, a silver-haired seer whose visions may already know his fate. Together, they begin to uncover the Empire's deepest secret: the Rift did not destroy magic—it only twisted it. And what sleeps beneath the Isle may yet awaken.Visions plague Ren—a white flame split into seven, the betrayal of the Devoured, and a staff cradling a flame without colour. The Orders watch him as a weapon, a heresy, or a last hope. And beyond the Veil, something older stirs. It knows his name. It has been waiting.To restore balance, Ren must decide: hide with the ones he has grown to love, or step into the rift between worlds and risk everything to mend what was broken. But to heal the Source, he may have to unseal the very wound bleeding darkness—and summon what has slept for millennia.The Rifted is the opening volume of The Riftborn Chronicles—an epic fantasy of shattered truths and forbidden magic, perfect for readers of The Wheel of Time, The Death Gate Cycle, and Daughter of the Empire. Rich worldbuilding, a revolutionary magic system, and characters bound by love, exile, and prophecy drive this tale of belonging, betrayal, and the thin line between salvation and ruin.