ASHES OF THE FORGOTTEN: THE SLUM GIRL'S ASCENSION

In a world where magical rank determines whether you eat or starve, Serina Ashwell is invisible---a slum rat scraping by in the gutters of Eldrath's capital, caring for her dying younger brother with stolen herbs and desperate prayers. When the Mage Council condemns her brother to death for "magical contamination," Serina breaks into the forbidden Shrine of Forgotten Gods, willing to trade her soul for his life. Instead, she awakens something far more dangerous: Kaelthar, the World-End Dragon, imprisoned for a thousand years after nearly destroying civilization. The ancient contract binds them brutally---his power flows through her veins, marking her with crimson scales that brand her as his vessel. Overnight, the powerless slum girl becomes the most dangerous weapon on the continent, hunted by the Mage Council who fear the dragon's return and coveted by rebel factions who want to use her as their weapon. But Kaelthar isn't the mindless destroyer legends claim. Trapped in semi-corporeal form and bound to Serina's survival, he's sardonic, cruel, and impossibly beautiful---a fallen god who remembers when humans were beneath his notice. He needs her alive to regain his true form. She needs his power to burn down the system that left her family to rot. As they're forced into deadly proximity, navigating assassination attempts and political conspiracies, Serina discovers the truth behind Kaelthar's imprisonment: he was betrayed by the first Archmage, who stole dragon magic to create the ranking system that now enslaves humanity. The Mage Council built their empire on his stolen power, and they'll slaughter thousands to keep that secret buried. Now Serina must choose: complete the contract and unleash a dragon who could destroy everything, or break the bond and lose the only power that makes her matter in a world designed to crush people like her.