Is the mission of the Starburner real? On the day Wen Zhao was born, an oracle proclaimed that at the age of twenty-four, she would be offered up as the “Starburner,” giving her life in exchange for twelve years of light for the world.
On the day of the sacrifice, Lu Chenye, the imperial officer charged with escorting her, suddenly stormed the altar and carried her away from the Holy City.
“The whole world is waiting for you to die.”
“So what?”
“I'm taking you home.”
During their escape, Wen Zhao gradually discovered that the Starburners throughout history had never truly died. Their consciousnesses were imprisoned deep within the firmament, where their happiest memories were burned again and again to create the false suns illuminating the Seven Cities.
And among them was the younger sister Lu Chenye was desperate to save.
One wanted to destroy the firmament and free the dead; the other wanted to preserve it and bring his sister back to the world of the living. Only when the long night fell did they understand: the ones who truly needed saving were never the world that devoured its people, but every person the world had chosen to sacrifice.
