The Craters of Sympharey

Simphareya is an empire ruled by a single sovereign, thriving on the extraction of runes—precious, yet extremely dangerous material. The empire’s second most valuable resource is also its main curse. Pale-heads are doomed young people capable of extracting runes without harming their health. But outside the rune mines they are deadly dangerous, because each of them, sooner or later, disappears from the World, leaving behind a crater burned into the earth and putting hundreds of lives at risk.
Edwin, a village boy, gets drawn into the grandest kidnapping in Simphareya’s history. Rayia, a high-born lady, goes on a diplomatic trip to uncover a conspiracy against the capital. Rickard is an awakened pale-head. Under the supervision of a guard convoy, he is sent to the mine—to work for the empire and to live out his short life.
The story of these three young people unfolds against a backdrop of growing tension. The horrors of past wars are already forgotten, but the discontented are grumbling louder and more worrying reports reach every corner of the country…

The book uses fragments of compositions: Aleksey Voronov – Before Sunset https://soundcloud.com/aleksey-voronov/before-sunset?si=ab8f17c79bc94473b32885712634d102=clipboard=text=social_sharing