Balance is everything.

Where the village ends, the rainforest begins, and while children whisper legends of impossible places and heroes, the villagers know there is nothing outside except the trees and what creeps between them. The dark and the creatures it hides have never entered the village, not while sacred spirits, the anki, protect it.

With his father's body wrapped and laid in the funeral clearing, Talon wants only to get back to his crops, his wife and two children, Sosa and Halo – but the bronze spear hidden in his father's hut is a complication he could do without. Metal is rare, and hoarding it forbidden, but that's the least of Talon's worries. The appearance of a young boy, stained with red dye, who crashes from the trees and collapses at Sosa's feet, could threaten the delicate balance, and Talon's decision to protect him will have consequences for his family; perhaps the whole village.

Talon and Sosa are about to be drawn into an adventure which, like many others, is full of heroes and claws and teeth. What those legends rarely say is how much those claws can hurt.

Talon and Sosa's legend does.

Warning: There is some gore and violence in this book but not an excessive amount. It's carefully placed, but it is there, just so you know!