Far from home and orphaned by a war that was never their own, the Galaila people are cast away to the untamed and isolated island of Manti. Struggling to survive a living, thinking plague and a jungle of predators, they have finally found sanctuary among high canyon walls. This settlement has grown over a lifetime to become the city of Hanging Gate, the center of power for the tribe’s new beginning. Under the protection of Anama, the island’s patron goddess, the Galaila find their bodies overtaken by her power. It molds them over time to share not only the appearance of her animals but their instincts as well. The Mantichaena nation is reborn through her, forsaking tool and weapon for tooth and claw as they fight for survival.
The bright future of the Mantichaena comes crashing down when a winged hunter named Keimas receives a vision of thousands dead at Anama’s feet. Enflamed by righteous vengeance, Keimas goes to seek the vision’s origin and finds himself on the path to slay the goddess. His anger and desperation to save his people blind him to the truth. Is he serving his people, or ensuring their demise?
Keimas’ wife, Lemalie, must face an equally dangerous enemy as her husband’s departure sparks controversy. The power-mad Primarch of Hanging Gate schemes calumny and murder to destroy all dissenters, including Lemalie and her father, by accusing her husband of an evil possession. Lemalie and her supporters lock horns with the most powerful man in the tribe only to discover there is already a war on Manti. One between the mortal and the divine.
The Nhi'Thaun, dead gods of the old world, are preserved in the stars and fixated on returning to life. Their chosen children are hidden among the Mantichaena. Will they be seduced by the will of the Nhi'Thaun, or will they find unity against a foe as old as creation itself?
