When Brogan is eleven years old, his beloved father dies unexpectedly. Now he has no one to protect him from his physically and emotionally abusive mother; so he runs away from home to stop her from torturing him day after day. While trying to survive as a street urchin, he is captured by a member of The Thieves’ Guild — better known as The Black Hand. Fearing the punishment of death, he soon finds himself training as an apprentice thief instead. But when that profession eventually places him in a deadly predicament, he decides to make an important change in his life. And that begins his journey to become the most gifted swordsman in the world. Eventually, Fate places him in a situation that allows him to save an important member of The High-King’s Court. And because of what happened on that day, his life is changed forever. Due to his great talent with a sword, he quickly finds himself drawn into a life he never imagined. * * * This is the story of Brogan’s life before he meets Rucker — a Child of Stain born with a birthmark called a Blood-Rune. The stain marks Rucker as one of the millions of newborns doomed to immediate death because of a law known as The Death-Edict. Rucker is one of the few who were rescued and then protected in the small isolated secret village of edict survivors. And due to their intertwined Destinies, Fate guides Brogan and Rucker to that very village.