Boy of the Appalachian

Deep in the Appalachian mountains lies Oblio, a sanctuary of exiles and outcasts that has defied empires for two centuries. But its isolation is shattered when the world's most powerful military superpower demands the extradition of a young revolutionary. Rather than betray a soul under its protection, Oblio chooses war. As the nation prepares for a suicidal last stand, a trio of brothers—Johnny, Dale, and little Ez—stumble into the crossfire, fleeing the brutal Badlands with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

Ez P. Solace is only six years old. He is brain-damaged, carries a pocket full of bullet casings, and clutches a fragile, unhatched phoenix egg. His mind is a kaleidoscope of fractured memories and raw potential, a vulnerability that masks a terrifying secret: the ancient, elemental power of the Wuxing spirits and the burning core of the sun itself courses through his blood.

With Oblio's military outnumbered and outgunned, their only hope lies in the ancient Tetra Exams—a brutal, three-phase gauntlet designed to push its participants to the breaking point and beyond. To survive the coming slaughter, Ez must volunteer. He will face the crushing weight of iron colossi, the unforgiving wilderness of a floating planet, and the insidious machinations of an arcane "Soul's Judgment" that forces him to confront the deepest, darkest corners of his own damaged mind.

Caught between the relentless advance of a global superpower and the impossible demands of the Exams, Ez is a ticking time bomb. He must learn to command the fire within him, to embrace the chaos and complexity of his own soul, and master the power of the sun itself. But the cost of failure is unthinkable: the burning of the world he's just begun to understand, and the loss of the only family he has left.