Lorelei Kaskel never expected her quest for glory to begin with murder. A sharp-tongued folklorist desperate to prove herself, she joins an expedition to find a mythical spring said to grant unimaginable power. But when her beloved mentor is killed aboard their ship, suspicion taints everyone aboard, except Sylvia von Wolff, Lorelei’s infuriatingly gallant rival.
Thrust into leadership, Lorelei must balance unraveling the mystery with racing to the spring before Brunnestaad collapses into civil war. Yet the path ahead brims with dangers: forests that shift at night, rivers hiding dragons, and beasts that stalk in silence.
And as reluctant allies transform into something far more dangerous—something tender—Lorelei faces an impossible choice: pursue justice, seize her dreams, or risk losing everything she loves.
