Menders are meant to save lives, but Arilyss and her ancestral healing stone have only become tools of torture.

Enslaved to the high commander of the Crimooran rebellion, Arilyss keeps tortured prisoners alive for further interrogation. To survive, she has become the Drauk, a fearsome, blood-painted fiend meant to shield her from her captors… and herself.

For months, an elusive monster has chased her through nightmares. When the beast enters the waking world to attack the fortress and Arilyss’ master rides for battle, she escapes toward the southern coast with an unlikely band of allies: the mythic tamrithal guardian, a young scholar, and an eyepatched foreign sellsword carrying generations of her bloodline’s forgotten lore.

As the rebels pursue them, Arilyss grapples with trust and her own heritage. A lullaby her mother once sang ties Arilyss and her tamrithal to an ancient tree in a forgotten land that keeps calling her. But Arilyss has spent too long surviving to entertain destiny, and she refuses to fall into wicked hands again.

Hunted by enemies, haunted by the blood on her hands, Arilyss must decide what true strength requires: self-preservation, or becoming the woman the Drauk was crafted to protect.