Before the Ashes

Even in hell, love dares to bloom.

At the Demiurge Academy-where young godlike beings learn to create, shape, and judge entire worlds-one lesson leaves an indelible scar. Within a conjured projection, students are drawn into the lives of Lira and Viktor, two gifted teenagers caught in a twisted magical experiment that hurls them into humanity's darkest hour: Auschwitz.

Lira, the brilliant yet isolated daughter of cold perfectionists, and Viktor, a forgotten orphan scarred by cruelty, find in ...