Dark Rise

Dark Rise is the first book in C. S. Pacat's fantasy series of the same name, set in 1821 London against the backdrop of an ancient war between Light and Dark.

In the prologue, James St. Clair, a young man serving Simon Creen, interrogates Marcus, a member of an ancient order called the Stewards, chained in Simon's cargo ship. James vows to help Simon destroy them all.

Three weeks later, Will, a young dock laborer, is ambushed by men bearing an S brand, the same mark worn by his mother's killers nine months earlier. His mother's old servant gives Will her medallion and tells him to seek the Stewards before being killed. The men capture Will and take him to Simon's ship. There, Violet, a 16-year-old who sneaked aboard to watch her half brother Tom receive Simon's brand, finds Will chained in the hold. When Stewards attack, Tom kills their leader with extraordinary strength; they call him "Simon's Lion," referring to dark warriors with supernatural power. Fighting breaks open a crate containing the Corrupted Blade, a black-bladed sword that spews lethal dark fire. The sword leaps to Will's hand, and he sheathes it, stopping the destruction. As the ship sinks, Violet uses her own Lion strength to break Will's chains, and they escape with Justice, a Steward.

Katherine Kent, a 16-year-old orphan engaged to Simon, arrives at the London house he has provided, accompanied by family including her younger sister Elizabeth.

Justice explains the Stewards' history: A Dark King conquered an ancient world of magic until a Lady defeated him. The Stewards guard against the Dark King's return; Simon, his descendant, works to resurrect him. Justice recognizes Will's medallion as the Lady's and vows to bring him to the Elder Steward, the order's leader, at their hidden fortress called the Hall. Will conceals Violet's Lion identity, claiming she was a captive. Violet, shaken after overhearing her father say he kept her solely as a sacrifice for Tom's power, agrees to join them.

James, about 17 and strikingly beautiful, uses magic to search for Will at the docks. Will disrupts the spell and rides alone to draw off three Remnants, Simon's warriors who wear pieces of ancient armor that withers everything it touches. Stewards drive them back, and Will passes through a gate on the marshes into the Hall, an ancient citadel where a beacon called the Final Flame burns atop its walls.

The Elder Steward, Euphemia, grants Will sanctuary and tells him he carries the Blood of the Lady, passed down from his mother Eleanor. Simon has hunted the Lady's descendants to eliminate the only bloodline that can stop the Dark King, whom she names Sarcean. She reveals James is a Reborn: Sarcean's most ruthless general, called the Betrayer, reincarnated into this time. Will begins training but cannot access his power. He touches the Tree of Light, a dead stone tree said to bloom at the Lady's touch, but nothing happens. Justice trains Violet in sword fighting. Will befriends novitiates including Cyprian, the Hall's most gifted trainee.

Will and Violet discover the Shadow Stone in a forbidden wing: a floating black rock imprisoning three Shadow Kings, ancient rulers corrupted by Sarcean. Will deduces Simon is keeping Marcus alive, waiting for the shadow within him to emerge. If Marcus turns, his shadow could breach the Hall's wards, letting Simon seize the Stone.

Violet returns to London for intelligence and learns James will visit a merchant's shop alone. Will serves as bait, and when James arrives, Violet strikes from behind with weighted manacles that suppress his power. Under compulsion from the Horn of Truth, a unicorn horn, James reveals Marcus's location and the Stewards' darkest secret: Their Cup of power is the same vessel from which four ancient kings drank before becoming Shadow Kings. Every Steward who has drunk will eventually turn. The Hall erupts in chaos. James also reveals he grew up in the Hall as the adopted son of its High Janissary, Jannick, before fleeing to Simon at 11.

Will visits Katherine and tells her about Simon's true nature. They kiss, and a hawthorn tree above them erupts into bloom and light: Will's power manifesting for the first time, triggered by strong emotion rather than Steward meditation. Katherine recoils. Violet realizes this emotional trigger is the key to Will's magic. She also discovers that Devon, a clerk, is the last unicorn in human form and has been Simon's source of ancient knowledge.

Returning to the Hall, they find every Steward slaughtered. Marcus turned, and his shadow killed them all before Simon's men entered through the broken wards and looted the vault. Justice lies dead, sword in hand. The dying Elder Steward gives final counsel: Will must use his power; Violet must take up the Shield of Rassalon, a relic of the old world; Cyprian, now the last Steward, must carry the order's memory. She asks Cyprian to end her life before she turns. Two janissaries, Grace and Sarah, survive. James escapes his cell, freed by a novitiate.

Pursuing a lead from the interrogation, they find a blind man guarding the Collar, a circlet forged to control the Betrayer absolutely. When the Collar appears, James, who arrived first, loses focus, and they subdue him. Instead of collaring James, Will frees him and hands over the Collar, arguing that using the Dark King's tools corrupts the user.

Katherine arrives at the Hall with Elizabeth, having overheard Simon say he needs the Lady's blood to free the Shadow Kings. The survivors plan to flee, but Will rides alone to Bowhill, his mother's death site, knowing Simon already has the Lady's blood, spilled where Eleanor died. He kills the Remnants, discovers their dark armor cannot harm him, and drives his sword through Simon.

Devon arrives and addresses Will as "My King," confirming what Will has come to understand: He is Sarcean, the Dark King, reborn when the Lady's blood was spilled years earlier. Will's mother found and raised him, knowing what he was; in her final moments, she tried to kill him. Katherine arrives and hears the truth. Elizabeth is Eleanor's real child, the true Blood of the Lady, raised in hiding. Two Shadow Kings descend, and Will, their maker, commands them back into the Stone. Katherine seizes the Corrupted Blade, believing she can wield it against Will, but the sword is tainted by the Dark King's blood and kills her, turning her to black stone.

At the Hall, a Shadow King attacks, and Elizabeth accidentally touches the Tree of Light, which erupts into radiance, proving she is the Lady's descendant. Violet sends Cyprian to escape with Elizabeth, Grace, and Sarah. She stays alone in the great hall. Her sword passes through the Shadow King without effect, and its strikes wound her deeply. Driven to the base of four empty thrones, her hand finds the Shield of Rassalon. The shield blocks the creature's blows. Violet drives its edge into the Shadow King's neck, destroying it.

Will sits alone at an inn. James climbs through the window, unaware of Will's true identity. He declares, "I'm here to follow you." Will, knowing the Dark King's power drew James across lifetimes, replies, "Of course you are." The story continues in the next installment.