Born in the land of magic, Ariella has never cared for the nightmare world of technology beyond Elitia’s borders: airships, bombs, some dubious thing the humans call fusion energy. Her last encounter with technology very nearly killed her, and she’s not eager for a rematch. But then her friend Davin, the crown prince of Elitia, is abducted by agents of the Avan Empire. To save the man she secretly loves, she has to travel beyond Elitia to the Avan capital city. Her only hope lies with rogue mercenary Everett—and trying to fight technology with magic.

Everett, mercenary and rescue mission expert extraordinaire, knows he’s in for trouble as soon as he sees his latest client. Ariella is Elition; the enormous glowing sword she carries around won’t let him forget that, just as he can’t forget the last time he crossed paths with Elition magic. Ten of his friends died, victims of telekinetic sorcery, and Everett learned to be very wary of magic. But Ariella is offering him a substantial reward for his help—if they can save Davin before the Avans’ unknown endgame plays out.