Child of Fire (The Ballad of Sorrows Book 1)

There was no blood, only smoke and cinder.

For eight years Caden has been in hiding. Haunted by his past and a promise to never use magic again, he has turned to the sword to make a living. As a mercenary in the mountain city of Kings Keep, he puts his talents to use hunting down the vile monsters that lurk in the shadows. No matter how much time passes, the fire continues to call out to him, urging him to take up his pyromancy once more.

When a group of bandits attack the city, murder a high lord, and ransack his palace, a large reward is offered to anyone willing to track them. Caden and his band of mercenaries, eager for their share of the gold, are the first to respond. This supposedly simple job turns into a desperate battle for survival which forces Caden to reveal his hidden magic. Saving only a few of his friends from death, he returns to the city, uncertain of what will become of him now that the secret is out.

Rumor of his pyromancy spreads quickly, especially among the powerful who drag Caden into a hunt for a creature more deadly than any he’s ever faced. As he stumbles deeper and deeper into the plots of the dominant elite who control the city, Caden begins to unravel a web of terror, and discovers that there is a more sinister evil at the heart of it all.