Legacy I. Echoes of Storm

2026 CROSSBOOKS TALENT

A NA fae romantasy where a goddess punishes five courts by chaining their power to a human's survival in a lethal tournament

Elara is the most skilled thief in the storm-battered archipelago ruled by the Court of Storms. With no memory of her origins, she bears a mysterious scar at her throat and a volatile power linked to storms and ancient magic—one she barely understands. When she unknowingly steals a forbidden relic guarded by Finian, the ruthless Guardian of Storms, she is forced into a deadly bargain to spare both her life and her mentor’s.

Her sentence: to compete in the Tournament of the Five Courts of Lysandria. Every five years, each fae guardian must present a human candidate to renew an ancient pact with the goddess—the source of their power and shield against the creatures of other realms. But Finian withholds a crucial truth: the guardians themselves devised the trials for their own amusement, until the goddess, enraged by this profanation, bound their magic to the survival of a human competitor as punishment. Since then, their power can only be renewed if a human competitor survives. None ever has. Now, the centuries-old pact is beginning to fracture.

As the guardians weaken and unnatural beasts ravage the territories, Elara is drawn into a web of political deceit and violence. She forms an unexpected friendship with Finian’s sister and an unlikely bond with the Shadow Court’s human candidate, while attracting the attention of Callum, the feared Guardian of Shadows. Lethal and rumored to be merciless, Callum becomes an ally—just as Finian reveals the limits of his loyalty.

As Elara’s power grows and desire collides with defiance, she must choose between surviving a system built on human sacrifice—or tearing it apart.