SMALL BULLIES: ASHES OF REDEMPTION
In a war-torn empire where power corrupts absolutely, seven broken warlords branded as monsters must defy their past to forge a future worth redeeming.
Once feared as "The Ghost Tigers"—Zhang Wei’s brutal enforcers—Kalima Chileshe (Hellfire Incarnate), John Mwanabeti (The Golden Fist), and their brothers-in-arms unleashed devastation across the Jade Expanse. Kalima’s flames razed villages. Chisangalalo Zulu’s breath poisoned rivers. Vincent Kabonde twisted flesh into abominations. But when the warlord they served turns their affinities against their own families, they shatter their chains, becoming hunted outcasts with blood on their hands and empires on their trail.
Haunted by the ashes of Frost Moon Province—a genocide Kalima can never undo—the Ghost Tigers are consumed by a desperate chase: to escape their sins, control their cursed gifts, and find a peace that feels forever out of reach. Their only anchors are the love of spouses they were forced to abandon:
- Kalima’s healer wife, Mei Lin, whose faith in his humanity is fading.
- John’s fierce swordsmith wife, **Hana, imprisoned for defying Zhang Wei.
- Zulu’s herbalist wife, **Lihua**, dying from the toxins he once weaponized.
Their quest leads them to the **"Breath of Heaven"**—an ancient philosophy teaching control over their destructive affinities. With this fragile hope, they unite with rebels and clans to build **"The Sanctuary"** in the poisoned Mourning Moss Swamp, transforming their powers into tools of healing:
- Kalima’s fire now warms forges.
- Zulu’s breath purifies blighted land.
- Vincent’s bone-warping mends wounds.
But Zhang Wei’s vengeance is relentless. He creates monstrous Serpent’s Teeth" soldiers and poisons the empire’s wells, blaming the Ghost Tigers. Facing annihilation, they make a final stand—not with fire and fury, but with irrefutable truth. Risking everything, they expose Zhang Wei’s atrocities to the Imperial Court, culminating in a celestial aurora over the capital—a beacon of their restraint and redemption.
In the aftermath, the Ghost Tigers achieve the impossible:
Reunite with their spouses against all odds.
Cleanse the land they once poisoned.
Build a sanctuary where affinity-bearers and refugees find hope.
Force the empire to acknowledge their humanity.
Years later, the Ghost Tigers stand not as warlords or monsters, but as guardians of the Sanctuary—a thriving city born from ashes. Kalima and Mei Lin heal beneath blossom trees where infernos once roared. John and Hana teach children to forge swords into plowshares. Vincent and Jia mend broken bones and broken pasts. Their scars remain, but their measure is finally taken in lives saved, not lives erased.
"We chased shadows... and found our light not in hiding, but in building this."
— Kalima Chileshe, Sanctuary Dawn
