Blades, Banter, and a Very Bad Quest

Kira Voss never fails a contract. That reputation is the only thing standing between her and starvation when a dying fence offers her a job no one else would take: extract a broken mage from a collapsing city and deliver him alive to the Veil Sanctuary-a place half the world insists doesn't exist. The mage is leaking magic. Literally. Fire spills from his skin, reality bends around him, and something in the Ashwood is hunting him with patient, intelligent hunger.
Every step Kira takes pulls them deeper into hostile territory: a forest that's been burning for decades, a river that kills magic on contact, soldiers closing in from behind, and a creature that grows stronger every time it feeds. Theron is not a hero. He's unstable, sarcastic, exhausted, and painfully aware that people keep dying because he's still alive. Kira isn't a savior. She's a blade-for-hire with a bad past, a worse future, and zero interest in getting emotionally attached to walking disasters.
Unfortunately, the road has other plans. As the journey stretches on, banter turns into trust, survival turns into choice, and the line between cargo and companion starts to blur. With the Hollowing closing in and the sanctuary still far ahead, Kira and Theron are forced to confront an uncomfortable truth:Some quests aren't about reaching the destination. They're about deciding what kind of person you're willing to be when everything is burning.
Blades, Banter, and a Very Bad Quest is a character-driven fantasy adventure featuring a mercenary who refuses to quit, a mage whose magic refuses to behave, slow-burn trust forged under pressure, dark humor, found family vibes, and a journey where every wrong decision somehow leads to something worse.