Shackles of Destiny

Breckett, a skilled ironworker, makes gun barrels for the armies of the Dominion Empire. Sensitive to the colored lines of magical power, he can see but not bend them to his will as a true mage would. Yet, he uses them to guide his metal working craft. Because of an abusive childhood, Breckett is insecure, introverted, and wary of all personal relationships. All that changes one night in a bar when he meets Emily Brogen.

The Kernel is a powerful mage who directs the Dominion's fate by manipulating a different set of magical lines, the lines of destiny. The Kernel sees that together Breckett and Emily will threaten her empire. Therefore she changes the world so their meeting does not occur. However, another mage who can also shape fate, secretly intervenes, and the connection is remade.

Forced by the empire to flee their familiar lives, Breckett and Emily join the Resistance, a group of rebels fighting the Dominion. There, Breckett is guided by Alys Dancer, a mage who helps free him from the shackles of his upbringing and develop his skills as a mage. While Breckett's magical powers will never threaten a true mage, his creative and imaginative use of his skills wins him acceptance, respect, and even admiration within the Resistance.

When Breckett's success regains the Kernel's attention, she uses her powers to demolish all he has achieved. Now living in an altered destiny, one without Emily, Breckett must use his newly acquired skills as well as his untested courage, to force a final confrontation with the Kernel's absolute power.