Sol’s job is simpler when things are black and white. Protect the innocent, condemn the lawbreaker. Policing magi is dangerous work and that kind of clarity helps, most of all when it’s his finger on the trigger deciding who lives and who dies.
1876 - France has been in British possession for twenty-four years, since before Sol was born. The British conquest of France and northern Spain has shaped his life and his work. Sol is a magister, part of a religious fraternity sworn to enforcing the laws that govern the use of magic and those who wield it: magi. Any preternatural crime falls under the jurisdiction of the magisters, whether that’s magi who’ve crossed the line, or something worse.
A family friend delivers Sol terrible news, which points him to a rural town in France where murders have been going unsolved for years. People there have long been prey to savage nocturnal creatures, but lately the killings have been getting worse. Magisters are already on site, and Sol gets himself dispatched as their aide so he can deal with his family matter. Once he arrives, Sol finds that things aren’t going to be that straightforward. One hard turn follows another, and before long he’s isolated, outnumbered, and fighting tooth-and-nail just to stay alive. But that’s straightforward enough for Sol.
Evil magi. Tainted beasts. Six bullets in his .44. He’ll make it work.
