If someone offered you immortality, would you take it?

At first glance, the answer seems obvious. More time. More experiences. More opportunities to accomplish your dreams.

But in Trial By Firebird, immortality comes with a price.

For Kate Adrasteia, that price is memory. Having lived multiple lives, she carries the weight of loss, heartbreak, and mistakes she can never forget. While others are allowed to move on, Kate must confront the past every time Remembrance returns.

For Kane, the cost is different.

As one of the oldest immortals in the series, he spent thousands of years waiting for his hesloen, his soulmate. Over time, hope began to fade. Like many immortals who never find their destined partner, he became numb to the world around him, wondering if the connection he longed for would ever come.

Immortality gave him endless time, but it could not guarantee happiness.

That was one of the ideas I wanted to explore while writing Trial By Firebird. We often imagine living forever as a gift, but rarely consider the loneliness that can come with it.

What happens when you outlive generations of friends and loved ones?

What happens when you spend centuries searching for something or someone you may never find?

For Kate and Kane, immortality is both a blessing and a burden. One carries the weight of the past. The other carries the ache of waiting.

And sometimes, surviving forever is harder than it sounds.