Months after escaping Cindhaëm, Laelyah survives by taking dangerous escort contracts and keeping her identity hidden.

But there is something else she has to hide: black veins spreading beneath her skin, the remains of a corruption that should have killed her — and a condition that could get her executed if discovered.

Her only hope is a healer hidden deep within the forests of Ascaron. The price for reaching him: twenty gold pieces.

When her path unexpectedly brings her back to Erdogan, an old friend who barely recognizes the woman she has become, Laelyah is pulled toward the Althenaum and into a new journey.

Then comes Blaise — a disgraced Valkh carrying his own spreading corruption and the consequences of stealing a royal artifact.

Three damaged people. One increasingly dangerous journey. And something buried beneath Ascaron that may be far more dangerous than any of them realize.

At its heart, Ascaron: Ad Vocatus, Part 1 is a dark fantasy about survival, freedom, chosen family, trauma, morally complicated characters, dangerous magic, and the difficult process of reclaiming ownership over one's own future.