From bestselling and award-winning author Traci Chee comes a standalone fantasy set against a war-ravaged world where kindling warfare–the use of elite,magic-wielding teenage soldiers–has been outlawed. In this rich and evocative novelseven kindlings search for purpose and identity as they prepare for one final battle. For fans of the classic films Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven. Oncethe war was fought with kindlings–elitemagic-wielding warriors whose devastating power comes at the cost of their own young lives. Now the war is overand kindlings have been cast adrift–their magic outlawedtheir skills outdatedtheir formidable balar weapons prized only as relics and souvenirs. Violence still plagues the countrysideand memories haunt those who remain. When a village comes under threat of siegeit offers an opportunity for seven kindlings to fight one last time. But war changed these warriors. And to reclaim who they once werethey will have to battle their paststheir traumaand their grim fates to come together again–or none of them will make it out alive. From bestselling and award-winning author Traci Chee comes a gut-wrenchingintrospective fantasy about seven lost soldiers searching for the peace they once fought for and the future in which they’re finally daring to believe.