The Variance: The Test of Time Book 1

In the mystical world of Isynt Vale, on Zarvan Realm, a dark curse ensures that no one lives beyond the age of 30.

Eloise, a 17-year-old on the brink of the Quest—a rite that will reveal if she possesses magical powers—fears the potential upheaval of discovering her own abilities and thus having to leave her family—some of whom are precariously close to the deadly age limit.

Mitac, a Black magic warrior from the capital, Amiket City, arrives with orders to oversee the Quest and retrieve anyone who's shown to have magical powers for the Illume Council. He's relieved to be assigned to Eloise's land where nothing strange or exciting happens...until suddenly he finds himself bringing home an orphan, a Quester gets attacked, and another goes missing. To save his job, and his head, he needs to find them, but are the Illume actually as good as they seem?

Across the vale, Aerith, a Purple magic dreamer, begins to question her allegiance to the all-knowing Council as she conceals ominous dreams about Eloise and others who could be in serious danger. As alliances shift and secrets unravel, together they must outwit the Illume Council and uncover the truth behind their motives and the curse. This might be the only way to chart a future in which they can all survive.