Dust of the Dead

In the peaceful decades since the Qalil War, Aakifah has gained a few pounds and taken a job as shairf of Basrah. Days from retirement, her plans for a quiet life are shattered when a local family is murdered, their daughters taken by pyumah, a race of ravenous predators.

Aakifah sets out with a handful of volunteers, including her lover, in what she knows to be a doomed rescue attempt. Even if the monsters haven't already devoured their prey by the time she finds them, a handful of farmers will be no match for the terrifying creatures.

Young Khayrat studies to be a lumin, speaking to the listening world to bring light to civilization. When her father is assassinated, she volunteers to learn the dark art of the unraveller. Like any act of imploratory, her studies come with a price. With each unravelling, her mind fragments, her sanity fraying as she forgets the peaceful woman she once was.

Khayrat travels with a band of hardened killers, intent on assassinating the foreign royal family. Driven by her need for vengeance, she swears to reduce her king’s enemies to dust.