The Vessel. The great hope of the Vahndriin people. His is the body through which their Lord, Vahndestrus might return to the world and bring with him promised salvation. And so too the role with which Vulfrey has been tasked since birth, the sole purpose of his existence. Yet to Vulfrey, unyieldingly pious, there could be no greater an honor. He’d prepared his entire life to see it done. He was ready.
However. On the eve of his twentieth birthday—the day that should have been his last—tragedy befalls the temple he'd lived his entire life caged within. Now, for the first time, he's thrust out into the world. Alone, broken, and fleeing for his life.
It’s then that he finds an unlikely ally in Kaill, the son of the man who’d betrayed and nearly killed him. With no choice but to trust him, the two set off together across country—Vulfrey searching for a means to fulfill his duty and mend the wound torn in his people’s faith, Kaill seeking penance for his father’s deeds, and both falling prey to feelings doomed by the journey’s end.
Rescued from the desert, Vulfrey resumes his journey westward toward Ashtilov, now accompanied by his trusty bodyguard Gajdren and the enigmatic brothel matron, Adrelynn. And, of course, Kaill…the foolhardy farmboy who’d barged into his life and risked his own time and again to protect him. The goal to find Archpriest Armundil that Vulfrey might finally fulfill his destiny as the Vessel—to complete the Ascension and return Vahndestrus to the world at long last.
Along the way, he begins to nurture his newly discovered gifts, learning to wield the power of his blood. While too the distraction of Kaill’s presence and the feelings buried deep inside continue to grow all the more difficult to ignore. Yet despite his heart’s desire, fulfilling the Ascension means sacrificing his very life—love but a selfish temptation he could never be permitted.
As Vulfrey grapples with heart and duty and the allure of untold power rooted within his blood, a fetid darkness begins to descend upon the lands of Dylinthae. With the Ascension hanging by a mere thread, the very Vahndriin faith in crisis, a reunion comes that he has both longed for and feared…
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Old Toadie’s Magical Trinkets and Curiosities, a quaint magical shop set up far in the backwoods town of Wollun where few at all have interest in magic or other such fancy. Jory, Old Toadie’s layabout son, is tasked with the day to day running of the shop, which amounts to sitting perched at the counter waiting for time to slip slowly away until closing comes. To say it boring would be an understatement. Even Hexie, the lazy shop cat, refuses offer even a crumb of entertainment.
That said, the job isn’t completely bereft of excitement. There’s at least one visitor Jory always looks forward to. That being his black and purple haired, pierced-up crush, Alexio, who oft comes calling in search of books. Unfortunately, a crush is all he is. Alexio hails from the big city, there’s no chance he’d have eyes for some bumpkin the likes of Jory.
That’s what he thought, at least, until one of his father’s potions throws everything into disarray…
