Ashes

Arc 1 of the PHOENIX series

“From the ashes, we rise.”

A year after her mother’s death, Bridget is faced with the daunting task of choosing a New Sky City Guild—locking in her life path at just seventeen—or risk sunsetting her mother’s legacy. And losing the roof over her head.

But accidents have followed Bridget through the last year—bursting light and street bulbs, static glitches on every shinescreen, overpowering SkyCurrent grids for blocks at a time, the very city seems to recoil from her. It’s as if her grief sparked something restless and electric under her skin—a storm of destruction she can’t control.

But Nix, the enigmatic leader of the rising boy band Phoenix, seeks her out—not put off by her strange static nature—and offers her a job. A once-in-a-sun-flare chance to raise her Shine rank. He watches her spark like he’s seen it before.

Like he knows what it means.

Bridget knows she’s dangerous, but maybe amid the chaos of boy band life—sweat-drenched rehearsals, twin-powered pranks, and the ever-burning pressure to write the next sun-ranked song—she’ll learn to harness the lightning inside before it burns her, and the band, to ashes.

Or awaken something never meant to rise.

Author Note: Posting November 2025