“The first memory I ever had of my father was him kicking my face to the ground. When you’re the head of a corrupt, embezzlement scheme in the guise of a traveling circus everyone needs to be made an example of. Even your insolent six year old son. There wasn’t a man under the sun that Larkin didn’t owe money. I swear the term cutthroat derived from him as there was no nasty trick in the book that he wouldn’t commit. Save for one. I just didn’t expect to find myself in the crossfire. What a fool I was.
I was dirt, and Larkin wouldn’t let me forget it. But he was the kind of scum I could always count on to be there. It wasn’t until he sold me as collateral that all of that changed. And now he will pay. They will all pay.”
Max, the son of a gypsy ring leader, has always been bullied for his lanky physique. In a traveling circus it pays to have muscle and have some kind of act to offer, but all Max is interested in is reading his scarce collection of worn out books. Ridiculed by his father, Larkin, Max vows that one day when he grows strong enough that everyone who harmed him will know what true pain feels like.
At the end of his rope, Larkin is confronted by a local band of rogues who demand to be paid. With a business to run, and most of his resources deteriorating before his eyes, Larkin decides to part with the weakest link in the chain: his son.
Shocked at this new brand of betrayal, Max is taken away from his flawed, yet familiar world. His anger boiling inside of him, a ray of red magic pulses out with his anger, the sheer force of it killing his captor. His world turned upside down, Max now must decide what to do with this newfound power, and embark on a journey to discover who he truly is. Are some of us truly born inadequate, or are our personalities and inclinations part of an intentional design?
