Love, History, or Blood: Which is the Strongest?
Mechail Korhlen, deformed son of a forest lord and a woman rumoured to be a witch, is an enigma. In his childhood something black settled on him and drank from his throat. Perhaps it marked him out as forever belonging to the dark...

At twenty-one Mechail, a victim of intrigue, is murdered. But astonishingly, he rises from the dead and takes a terrible revenge before fleeing his home. And the fulfilment of his destiny begins.

The fate of all who live in this magically forested world is subject to the seductive will of Anjelen, a priest possessed of enormous powers. He is a terrifying and dynamic force- but for good, or for evil?

And what is the mystery at the heart of the seemingly Christian monastery Anjelen rules? Is it that he - and his followers - drink blood?