The First
Ash Falls

Karbaril is a city on the brink. Once ruled by priests and prophecy, it now bows to a new power — Binamism, a craft that binds magic into metal and remakes the world with gears, engines, and weapons. But progress has teeth, and the gangs that prowl Karbaril's streets are hungry to bite first.

Tristan Ashkin never wanted trouble. The son of a master binamist, his life burned to cinders the day his father was executed for treason. Branded a criminal and thrown into prison, Tristan survives only by clinging to the friendship of a few dangerous cellmates.

When he emerges back onto Karbaril's ash-choked streets, Tristan wants one thing — answers. But instead, he finds Corbin, the ruthless master of the city's most feared gang, the Corvids.

Corbin forces Tristan and his prison-born crew into an impossible job: steal a sacred relic from the Temple of Solarrion, god of justice itself. The Rusmani, Karbaril's zealous and war-bound neighbours, will pay dearly for it — and Corbin intends to cash in.

But the relic is older and more dangerous than anyone suspects. And Tristan will have to choose between saving his friends, uncovering the truth about his father, or surviving long enough to see the next dawn.