The Unbonded

Ryn Dallow failed his bonding test at twelve, and in a kingdom where power flows through the pact between human and spirit-beast, that failure is a life sentence at a village forge. Then a blightstorm tears through the mountains, and a creature out of legend—a smoke-furred shadow-lynx with molten silver eyes—chooses him. At the Crucible academy, Ryn learns that his impossible bond is only the first secret. Something is draining the wild forest dry, and someone powerful wants it kept quiet.