In a world plagued by all manner of war, disaster and monsters follow a single boy on his road to changing the world. Iver Maverick is a Darkling, an infernal offspring, who was left behind by his mother as an infant. Raised by the Wild Elf Fermose, Iver struggles just to make it from one day to the next. But when Iver witnesses his father's murder and the hands of a masked man who left with a mysterious black box Iver's life is changed forever. In grief, he loses his home and is forced to live on the streets. But when an uncle from his adoptive father's clan comes looking for Iver he is offered a chance to get everything he wants and more with a secret organization known as the Hermetic Order of the Aegis. In the order's academy, Iver is put to the test in mind, body, and soul to see if he has what it takes to become a warrior even if his talents lie elsewhere. But even in the guarded walls of the academy threats loom and something sinister is brewing unseen. Can Iver achieve his goals and become a warrior? Or will he fail out of the academy and need to find his vengeance by other means?