The Shadow of Tarensa

Norra Lannura was adopted and, while that might explain why she doesn't look like the rest of her family, it doesn't explain why she has never met anyone who looks like her. Compared to most Celembrians, she's tall, lanky, flat-faced, and almost entirely hairless. Some might even call her "human."

Though her origins have always nagged at the back of her mind, her top priority is to fit in with her adopted family. So, when she is finally given a chance to prove herself as one of them, she sets off on a month-long journey to a faraway land. However, her hopes of earning respect among her people are thrown off course when she runs into two members of a fearsome warrior race called the R'caesa, who uproot her plans and force her to follow them back to their military base.

She also meets a mysterious slave whom they call "the shadow" during this time. They say that it is the last of its kind, and that its people were eradicated years ago after they allegedly betrayed the R'caesan emperor. Norra's only hope of continuing her rite of passage lies in her plans of escape, but she can't help but feel sympathy for the shadow.