The Watchman's Burden

When the sun curdles and burning ash begins to fall, Sergeant Gavin Anderson finds himself responsible for a district suddenly cut off from command. With civilians looking to the City Watch for protection and every whistle carrying another crisis, Gavin must hold together his patrol, his community, and the principles behind the badge—while his own family remains somewhere beyond his reach.

The Watchman’s Burden: follows the first desperate hours of The Ash Solstice from the streets of the Western District, where survival means more than staying alive. It means deciding what the Watch becomes when no one is left to give the orders.