A border city where humans and monsters meet. When Rugar, the chained beast of ruin, growls, everyone else hears a threat. You hear what he really means. Monsters can't lie. And what he's saying is nothing like what the humans believe.
After a hundred years of war, humans and monsters have finally called a truce, and on the border between them stands the fortress city of Muris. You, Harin, have fallen into this world with one rare gift: when monsters roar, you hear words. The Compact Office seizes you and makes you the interpreter for Rugar, a chained monster they call the beast of ruin. But monsters can't lie, and what Rugar growls is nothing like the threat everyone believes. He's been framed, and you're the only one who can hear the truth. One stick of chalk in your hand can send him to the gallows or save his life. And as the truce starts to crack, the two of you become each other's only witness.
- The beast they call ruin meets the only person who understands him, and for the first time, he looks away.
- You turn his roars into words with a single stick of chalk. It can send him to the gallows, or save him.
- Monsters can't lie. So if he says he loves you, it's true.
The beast they call ruin meets the only person who understands him, and for the first time, he looks away.
Harin
A young interpreter who fell into this world. She has a gift that shows up maybe once or twice a generation: she hears monster speech as plain human sentences. That gift is why the Compact Office seized her and put her to work interpreting for the beast of ruin.
