Dawn of the Lightbearer (Absolution of the Morning Star)

The boy finds the sword. Then the boy starts asking whether the sword found him.

Erikson Gray was meant to be a nobody.

A blacksmith’s apprentice in Grafton Notch, on the fringe of a fractured empire, Erik has no title, no inheritance, and no place in the wars of gods and emperors. Then he discovers an ancient sword buried in a forbidden forest.

Its name is Lightbearer.

And it whispers.

In time, the whispers grow louder. It knows things it should not know. It offers strength when Erik is weak, warns when death draws near, and holds enough power to make emperors afraid. But Lightbearer is no ordinary magic sword. Something ancient is bound within it—something that remembers histories the empire has buried and truths the faithful may not want uncovered.

In Lucardia, the dead do not go to heaven. They are currency, and Lightbearer may be the first crack in the lie.

Hunted by soldiers, zealots, and enemies out of legend, Erik is driven across a world already beginning to come apart. His companions are two disgraced knights, a band of thieves, and a blade whose voice becomes harder to ignore with every mile and every drop of blood.

What begins as a young man’s coming-of-age adventure soon reaches into political intrigue, ancient mythology, hidden bloodlines, and a religious system built upon secrets older than the empire itself. The deeper Erik travels into Lucardia, the less certain he becomes about who can be trusted—or what Lightbearer truly wants from him.

Lightbearer did not choose him by accident. And as forgotten powers begin to stir, Erik must confront a question that reaches far beyond who will rule Lucardia:

Does he wield Lightbearer…or does Lightbearer wield him?