The Lantern Garden

A soul-contract binds two young artisans to a wager they never agreed to—and the loser will be consumed by their own creation. Renata Valerio sculpts living light; Emeric Durand grows impossible gardens from bare stone. Chosen as champions by feuding masters, they must fill the legendary Lantern Garden with ever-greater wonders across the turning seasons. But as rivalry becomes love and their combined magic awakens something ancient in the garden itself, Renata and Emeric discover that the only way to survive is to break every rule their masters set.