Two kidnapped teenagers struggle to find their place in a future world of empty landscapes and threatened war. Speculative fiction for young adults.
Kidnapped in full daylight and taken to a fortress hidden in distant and deserted mountains, eleven year old Zabe and Ash struggle to understand why they were taken and what happened to the families they left behind. Over the course of eight years, their kidnappers train them to be soldiers and strategists, constantly warning them of the global war that awaits beyond their protected valley.
Released into the wider world at age nineteen, Zabe and Ash confirm what they have suspected for years: that the world is a far more complex place than their kidnappers taught. However, as time goes by, it becomes clear that it is also a more dangerous place than they ever could have guessed...
When their kidnappers return for them, Zabe and Ash must make a choice between obedience to the people who raised them and freedom.