Delta should have been a powerful shaman like her grandmother. Instead, she has lost her magic gift and her only hope is to study in the far-off city of Samarzal. To get there, she joins a caravan with her uncle and cousin and finds herself among a ragtag group of travelers.

But the journey becomes a nightmare when bandits force the caravan onto the Forsaken Road through the mountains. Here, necromancers turn young girls into living dead, demons hunt with illusions, and desperate locals sacrifice people to strange entities. Worse, some fellow travelers harbor dark secrets.

As her companions succumb to violence and betrayal, Delta forges an uneasy alliance with Ketylenn, a noble girl with budding magical gifts. Guided by the spirit of a black panther, Delta must navigate not only treacherous mountain passes but also the blurred lines between victim and survivor, friend and enemy, destiny and choice.

A gritty coming-of-age tale about the courage to forge your own path in a world where magic itself hangs by a thread.

A special note for readers: this book contains a lot of characters and a lot of worldbuilding. If you prefer your fantasy centered on a few heroes and villains, you won't enjoy this book.

This novel has been previously realeased under the title "I Am a Barbarian"