The Children of Triune (Origins Book 1)
by Dorianne Ashe
Fantasy
On Triune, a world where no child has been born for nearly five centuries, humanity survives under a divine decree no one fully understands. The fallen Creator had sealed the womb of the world, halting the future and freezing civilization in a slow, aching stasis. But beneath Triune’s surface lies a secret so vast and so caref ... ully hidden that even the most devout citizens have never imagined its full usefulness. Far below the Upper, the bright, ordered world of Elders, sprawls the Middle, an immense subterranean cradle carved from stone and starlight. Here, every “child” of Triune is raised in absolute secrecy for twenty‑three years. They train, study, fight, and transform under the watchful eye of Mother, their half-human, half-android caretaker whose devotion is as chilling as it is absolute. Each year, the children undergo The Binding; a brutal, sacred procedure that tears them open so their latent gifts can bloom. Some awaken fire. Some awaken sight. Some awaken strength that bends steel. With every Binding, the pain sharpens, the transformations deepen and grows closer to the day they will ascend to the Upper and take their place as Triune’s hidden lifeblood. All except one. Gilly, quiet, stubborn, and fiercely observant, has endured every Binding without a single spark of power. No gift. No whisper. Nothing. As her twenty‑third year approaches, she faces the truth no one speaks aloud: children who fail to bloom rarely survive their final Binding. Their names are ca
