Radcliff
Radcliff was widely known as the most ruthless wizard of all time. Nicknamed The Destroyer, his brutal tactics forced even the most recalcitrant kingdoms to surrender. Only the west dared to defy him until he immolated their entire city and thousands died. Enraged by the senseless slaughter, his enemies plotted to bring him down. Drugged by his lover, bound in chains, and stripped of all magic he was sentenced to death. Only the intervention of a mysterious woman commuted his sentence to life in prison with the stipulation that he suffer one year for every life taken.
Now, his memories are locked behind a spell designed for torture. Every morning his memory is wiped. Every year, on the anniversary of his imprisonment, he is forced to remember who he was, what he lost, and those who did it to him. Wizards who know about the spell claim it only takes a year or two before the victim goes mad. Radcliff has been locked away for a thousand.
Amira
Amira’s seer talent has always been unpredictable but accurate. So when it warns her the wizard responsible for slaughtering her friends and family must survive, she saves him but demands one year of punishment for every victim he killed in return.
Now, a thousand years later, she receives another vision warning her to save the wizard or else lose the world. This time, she’ll have to set aside her hatred and help him stay alive even if she wishes him dead. To top all that off, she’ll have to figure out a way to restore his memory and hope he knows what to do because her Sight has gone dark.
Their Journey Together
It’s hard to hate someone when they don’t remember what they did. It’s hard not to like someone who is nice, intelligent, and personable. It really shouldn’t make Amira feel guilty about what she did when Radcliff suffers mood swings and suicidal depression caused by the spell. It shouldn’t break her heart each morning when he wakes up and has that ‘I don’t know you’ look in his eyes. She shouldn’t be falling for him, he’s the enemy, but her heart refuses to listen.
Radcliff is forced to write down every thought he wants to remember and every person he meets. It’s frustrating to be told he’ll save the world when he has to relearn basic magic each morning. He really shouldn’t kiss the beautiful stranger when he wakes up, but something about her draws him in. When Radcliff reads what he wrote about Amira, he feels like he could fall in love with her if only he didn’t forget her come the morning.
The odds are stacked against them, but Amira and Radcliff will do everything to save the world – even if it means betrayal and self-sacrifice.
This can be read as a standalone fantasy novel set in the Darklight universe.