Aeden Rossam- 17, son of a nobleman, expert swordsman, spoiled, let's face it: he's a punk. Betha Solvinstra- 18, common shopkeeper's daughter, rising star in the Society of Healers. Oh, and she hates the nobility. After the sword tournament in the city of Elbeth, the master healer—leader of the secretive society of healers, invites Aeden to join, and shares the society's great secret: that all mankind are Rohvim—beings of metal, flesh, programming, and fantastic powers that the uninitiated see as magic. Torn between accepting the offer or following in his ambitious father's footsteps by serving in the royal guard, Aeden sees his beloved city overrun by an army under the control of an unknown warlord in the north. Now fatherless, Aeden escapes and is chosen, along with Betha and other society members, to find and stop the warlord before the entire kingdom falls under his tyrannical rule. To succeed, he must come to terms with his human nature, learn of his Rohva nature, and with Betha's reluctant help claim the powers that only a Rohva with a true knowledge of himself can wield. And along the way, they will begin to unlock the secrets of Earth's troubled past... Metal and Flesh is a partially illustrated novel of 98,000 words, the first of three parts.