Her rage can shape steel—or shatter kingdoms.
Every town wants a smith, but none want a berserker. Valkora Lostwolf is both: a skilled blacksmith plagued by a lethal rage she cannot control. Half-orc and half-human, she is desperate to belong, yet forever the outsider.
Magic is fuelled by the soul's Essence—yours or another’s, willing or not. When Valkora joins a raid on a warlock’s heavily guarded caravan, she expects gold. Instead, she unwittingly seizes the sentient Essence of Atramenta Vox: a dead tyrant whose wrathful cult still wages war in her name.
Rejecting Atramenta's honeyed whispers, Valkora builds a new life as a mercenary. For the first time, she earns what she has always craved: real friends, true purpose, and a fragile love she never believed possible.
Yet Atramenta’s influence is far more subtle than Valkora realises. When tragedy shatters her peace, Valkora must unleash the very fury that has haunted her for years to avenge her loss and protect those who remain.
Will she remain the blacksmith who builds—or become the forge flame that burns the world to ash?
Reader Advisory: This novel is a gritty, character driven dark fantasy containing visceral violence, major character deaths, and morally ambiguous choices. True heroism is always forged in sacrifice and paid for in blood.
