The Blight. The end of Mankind. The Bridge that may be salvation or the final betrayal.
Magic is treacherous, it lied to them all...
In this award-winning debut, magic and its guardians have been banished to the Deadlands and the Blight threatens mankind's survival. Terren, the last remaining city, stands alone against its relentless advance. Ever closer draws the choice they all must make: face the deadly Blight or cross the Bridge to Magic.
Elika, an orphan on Terren's streets, hates and fears the dark bridge. Many who try to cross, perish. Some reach the other side, only to become motionless shadows in the vast, lifeless landscape of the Deadlands, their true fate unknown.Like everyone else, Elika clings to the hope that purging every lingering echo of magic from the world can stop the Blight.
Then she discovers that magic is hiding within her, and through her it seeks to enact the will of its own. Everything Elika knew about her past shatters, as long-buried secrets about her true birth emerge. Accused of being a mage, many doubt her loyalties. Her gang turns against her. The one man she thought she could trust and love, abandons her.
Hunted and alone, Elika must soon decide: Either destroy the magic inside her or cross the bridge to her own uncertain end. But what awaits them in the Deadlands where the enemy of mankind roams wild?