Man reaches for fire as a weapon, not to survive, but to erase the proof that he was ever conquerable. Outside the walls, the Wastelands crawl with Hydramors, the shapeshifting, merciless beasts responsible for the near extinction of mankind. Inside Paragon, eighteen-year-old Arelie Bowden yearns for vengeance against them.

Orphaned by Hydramors, Arelie has spent the majority of her life training to join Paragon’s elite militia. Despite her efforts, Arelie is turned away—too weak, too precious, too female. Her duty is to repopulate the Earth, not reclaim it. Determined to avenge her parents, Arelie escapes into the Wastelands to kill a Hydramor and establish herself as a valuable military asset. But when a vulnerable run-in with a young Hydramor leaves her entirely unscathed, Arelie’s close encounter with the seemingly innocent creature shatters her perceptions of Paragon and the world beyond.