Slug Bearers

In a world where power comes at the cost of your soul—and your years—Opening your Heaven’s Gate is a rite of passage reserved for the elite. Swallow a sentient slug, bond your mind and body to its eldritch power, and become a commander in the war against the subterranean Unders. If you survive the merge, that is. Lucas Virell, born into wealth and legacy, has trained his whole life for this moment. The son of a prestigious family, the nation’s eyes are on him when he completes the ritual and merges with Lunaris, one of the strongest slugs to ever live. But the union leaves him broken, unstable, and plagued by the overwhelming presence in his mind. Expectations crush him. His body weakens. His grip on control slips. Then there's Lucy Ahlstrom—a nobody from the slums. With no sponsor, no bloodline, and no hope of surviving past thirty, Lucy stumbles into a stolen slug and does the unthinkable: she opens her first Gate. Her transformation is a miracle—and a threat. Bonded to the refined and ruthless Selanar, Lucy’s silver-flamed ascension shocks the Capitol and disrupts centuries of social order. Now, both are enrolled in the Academy of Ascendants, where slugbearers are trained to lead battalions against the Unders. But the academy is a battleground of its own: vicious students, political sabotage, and twisted hierarchies wait around every marble corridor. Lucas is ridiculed for his faltering control. Lucy is hated for rising above her caste. When the two are forced together, their fates entwine. Forced into fragile alliance, Lucy and Lucas must navigate inner demons, external war, and a world that wants to use—or break—them. What begins as resentment may become survival. And survival may uncover something even more dangerous: the secret behind the slugs, the true cost of the Gates, and the lie that holds their society together.