Fox’s Tongue and Kirin’s Bone

Humanity teeters on the brink, slaughtered by the legendary creatures once confined to folklore. Markus was prophesied to save them—until a knife found his back in a filthy alley, all because he resembled a street thief named Aaron. Now Death demands Aaron take Markus’s place, but survival has always been his only creed. Skilled in theft and quick with a blade, he’s no savior. Yet as Aaron unravels the dead boy’s secrets, he uncovers a web of court intrigue, shifting alliances, and the unsettling truth behind Markus’s final hours. In a world where European and Asian mythologies collide, Aaron must navigate treacherous politics, outwit cunning adversaries, and decide whether to flee—or fix the broken world that never asked for his help. The wrong boy died that night, but the right one might be even more dangerous.