The Cost of Doing Good

MERCY IS A CHOICE. SACRIFICE IS THE PRICE.

Paisley Cinderhelm is a blacksmith, not a warrior. She knows the heat of the forge, not the heat of battle. But when a dying traveler collapses at the gates of her village, he brings a nightmare with him: a necromantic plague that twists the living into ravenous monsters.

When the infection claims her little brother, the village laws are absolute: Barricade then burn.

Armed only with her father’s sword and a fierce empathy rare in her culture, Paisley defies her elders and embarks on a desperate race across the Five Realms to find a cure. She is joined by a rigid warrior, a gentle Fae healer, a timid Frogfolk, and a necromancer with a dark connection to the blight.

From the sky-archives of Veloria to the marshes of the Deathwater Swamps of Kardor, Paisley leads the ragtag band to face the curse. As the plague consumes the land, she discovers a chilling truth: saving the world requires a terrible price.