Prince Joel Makonnen

Yared has journeyed light years to find his rightful place in the universe, but his greatest challenge awaits him back where humanity started. Though the fierce battle of Addis Prime has ended, the legendary spacefaring Axum Empire remains dangerously fractured. Missing for over a decade, the empire is finally returning to Old Earth, only to discover their ancestral home in total ruin. The planet's atmosphere is choked with junked shuttles and dying satellites. Out in the orbital wasteland known as Debris Town, abandoned spacefarers have turned to piracy just to survive the harsh conditions. Yared is scheduled to deliver a major address at the opening of the Royal Trials, an elite competition showcasing the finest exo pilots in the Sol System. However, the festivities are violently interrupted when the pirates launch a surprise attack. This brazen siege drags Yared into a treacherous descent toward the depths of Old Earth and straight into a devastating betrayal. As you navigate this vast Afrofuturist universe, you will uncover hidden truths about Debris Town and realize the pirate threat is far more complex than anyone imagined.

Yared Heywat is used to surviving in the shadows of Addis Prime, a hardscrabble city filled with broken technology and far too many rules. His only real family is his deeply anxious Uncle Moti and a fiercely loyal bionic lioness named Besa. To escape his isolated life, Yared uses his quick wits to dominate the underground augmented reality game known as The Hunt for Kaleb's Obelisk. But the virtual world collides violently with reality when a sudden rule change forces Yared to log into the game using his actual name. This single action triggers a devastating citywide attack, and in the resulting chaos, Uncle Moti vanishes without a trace. Suddenly, the wild bedtime stories his uncle used to tell about sky kingdoms and city-destroying monsters are manifesting in the real world. Realizing he is at the center of this waking myth, Yared must team up with Besa and a bitter gaming rival to find his uncle. You will plunge into an epic Afrofuturist adventure as Yared uncovers his true destiny in a forgotten, galaxy-spanning war.