Oly is Niawa’s longest serving Champion, a warrior given magical strength. She stands alone at the Edge, protecting the kingdom from demonic hordes that emerge from a rift between the realms. But her powers are fading; she has to find a way to get them back, and fast.

An answer comes when Heir Fallon, distraught when he is not chosen to be the next ruler of Niawa, attempts to change his fate by convincing Oly to leave the Edge for the first time in ten years for the Day of Breath. It's the one day a year demons can't breach the rift and Fallon’s invitation is a chance for Oly to beg for her strength to be renewed.

But reuniting with family and regaining her strength is interrupted when parasitic demons spread through the kingdom, on the one day it should be impossible. As Oly grows weaker and Fallon struggles to take the throne, they have until midnight to find a way to stop the carnage before the rift awakes again…

In A Day of Breath, the fate of the world rests on a single, brutal day.

Out February 10, 2026

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Darby Cox is a speculative author who has been writing since she was 10. She loves complex characters, dark settings, and escaping into magical worlds.

About Darby Cox

Repped by Amy Collins at Talcott Notch Literary Agency