From publisher blurb:
Beneath the crimson gaze of a dying sun, Karak-Hal lies shrouded in dust, its skies heavy with ash and despair. Once a jewel of commerce and ingenuity in the vast reaches of the United Cosmic Empire, the planet now endures as a forgotten relic, its name erased from the starmaps of the powerful. Left behind centuries ago when the UCE turned its gaze to richer horizons, Karak-Hal spiralled into ruin, its people abandoned to fend for themselves in a world unfit for salvation. What remains is a planet of blood and chains, where survival is earned in the violent spectacle of the arena and the will to resist festers in the shadows. The arenas of Karak-Hal, carved into the bones of ancient mountains, pulse with a grotesque vitality. They are places where lives are spent like currency, and the roar of the crowd drowns out all thoughts of mercy. Here, the enslaved battle for their oppressors’ amusement, their flesh traded for fleeting moments of glory. The gladiators’ names echo across the sands, elevated as legends, only to be forgotten as soon as their blood soaks the earth. The overlords, a sinister cabal known as the Crimson Vanguard, feast on this suffering, their fortunes built upon the suffering of the gladiators they control. In the darkness beneath the arenas, rebellion stirs. From whispered words in forgotten corridors to acts of quiet defiance, the seeds of insurrection take root. A council of gladiators, scholars, and escaped slaves—calling themselves the Sundered Flame—plot the downfall of their masters. Among them are warriors who have tasted both the bitterness of defeat and the fire of hope. They know the cost of freedom is high, and not all who rise will see its light, but their resolve burns brighter than the flames that lick at Karak-Hal’s ruined horizons. You are one among the enslaved, bound by chains that weigh heavier than iron. The arena has been your prison, its sands your battlefield, its crowds your silent jury. Yet something stirs within you, a yearning for something greater than survival. As the winds of rebellion sweep across the desolate wastes, they carry with them the voices of the defiant, calling you to action. Will you fight for freedom, or will the weight of your oppressors crush you beneath their heel? Karak-Hal is a world of dust and despair, of blood and defiance. Its fate rests on a blade’s edge, and with each passing moment, the sands shift beneath your feet. In the crucible of combat and rebellion, you must forge your destiny, one blow at a time.