Magic, Monsters, and Radical Empathy

Laceco was studying movement styles at a circus before the Telegram Flu left him bedridden for years. He partially recovered, but since then, certain people near him have experienced magical phenomena. Their emotional pain has manifested literally. Laceco believes this is because he is cursed, so he runs away from the circus he grew up in, climbs the nearest mountain and begins a new life as a hermit. A month later, he wakes up to find himself lying on the floor, whilst his bed is occupied by a strange woman he's never seen before. Both of them scream at each other to get away - they're both in terrible danger. The woman flees Laceco's cabin, but the wild magic whisks her back the next night, and the night after that. Laceco is unhappy about this, partly because it consistently results in him sleeping on the floor, but mostly because the strange woman seems to be causing his bed, his shack, and the mountain around his shack, to be consumed by mould and decay. Laceco has to learn all he can about this strange woman's manifestation, but he can't save her. The manifestations are born from emotional pain, so she has to be the one to face her pain and deal with it, before it's too late.

Every fire witch is cursed, but Melita considers herself more cursed than most. Exiled to the edge of the world, because of her chronic illness, her only joy comes from exploring the long-dead city of Tenebro. Monsters lurk in Tenebro, devious traps seek to sever your connection to reality and then, of course, there's the Hungry Dark itself, which can strip the flesh from your bones in mere seconds. Melita isn't bothered by the monsters, she's good friends with one of the traps and she loves the Hungry Dark because it's where her light shines brightest. Tenebro is the place Melita goes to leave her symptoms behind. When a mob attacks Melita's village for harbouring exiles, she flees to the dark with her friend and fellow cave raider Teya. Together, they'll delve deeper than ever before, chasing a myth which might hold the key to keeping their village safe from rampaging humans once and for all. The creatures of the dark want Melita's head, but her illness is the real threat, and that's something she can no-longer run from.