Who will you be when darkness calls? Corinth has spent most of his life surviving. It has never left room for anything else. But in the desert city of Barbella, among arena champions, liars, and forgotten histories, he begins to discover something unfamiliar: friendship. Purpose. Hope. Thr world beyond the city walls is growing darker. Old enemies gather. Powerful forces move unseen through the kingdom. While others fight for crowns, vengeance, or power, Corinth finds himself asking a far simpler question: When the time comes, who does he want to be?