The gods are dead. And good riddance. All that remains of their blood-soaked magic resides in the four ruling families, which is too much as far as Eli is concerned. She is the padaka, the word-speaker, a magic-bound slave to her family's inheritance ritual. In short, the expendable one. After her mother's death, Eli has only three weeks to reach the Hollow Palace and fulfill her obligation to the magic. If she succeeds, she's free. If not, she dies. But someone in her treacherous family has sent blood-hunters to stop her from revealing the name of her mother's chosen heir. Fleeing by forgotten roads and through ruined temples, Eli has only her drug-addicted warrior cousin, Jena, to aid her. But when they unwittingly resurrect a god-worshipper, a priest, he uses his cursed magic to enslave Jena-enlisting her to fulfill his own obligations to a blood-thirsty god. Can Eli free herself and Jena from the magic that binds them? Or do the gods have other plans?
22 parts