Melissa was raised to believe she was special-one of the counters, marked and trusted by the empire. Her father's lessons were clear: numbers meant value, obedience meant safety, and rebellion was for the lazy.
But when a nictolar tears her life apart, Melissa is forced into the hands of strangers who don't live by the empire's rules. Their kindness unsettles her. Their truths don't match the ones she was taught. And when she comes face-to-face with the empire's cruelty, Melissa must decide who she is without the numbers that once defined her.
Torn between the lies of her upbringing and the pull of a different future, Melissa is about to learn that rebellion doesn't begin with swords or fire. It begins with one small choice-whose hand to take.
A companion short set in the world of
Of Katera
, this story explores grief, awakening, and the first flicker of rebellion.