The Passing explores the relationship between man and death in a fictional world called Aetheria. The protagonist, Kane Brennan, goes to war and is forced to decide what he truly believes about the world and himself while going through the dangers of battle alongside his best friend, Illian Rollow. By experiencing combat, Kane hopes to fill an emptiness he carries from watching his grandfather die violently as a child. A symbol of death in 'The Passing' is the Breach, a divide between the living world and the afterlife, created when humanity rose up in the War of Ascension and destroyed the gods who had created them. Now all those who die must endure crossing the Breach. Some wander blindly forever while others eventually reach the afterlife. A few unlucky souls are pushed back to Aetheria in the form of monstrous spirits, driven made by the trauma of returning to physical form.--Abstract.