Caution!!! This is a spoiler! Don’t read to the end if you don’t want to know the end!
…sensing the admission, the Darfarne slithered closer and smirked at the sight of the girl. Anna shuddered. The hard eyes, calculating, picking her apart, scanning her for Power, for value, unsettled her the most. He removed a binding strap from inside his cloak and uncoiled it ring by ring. “The girl is of age. I must take her to be tested.”
For sixteen years, Anna has safely avoided the Darfarne’s Trials. Their methods of unearthing the Oracle, the one girl born each generation with extraordinary magical ability, are known to maim, even kill. When the General falls ill and requires her Healing skills, she can no longer evade them. It’s the Darfarne who escort her to his deathbed.
Under the Darfarne’s watchful eye, Anna launches a futile attempt to Heal the General, but his illness is too entrenched. While Anna bears no love for the bloodthirsty leader, she’s bound by a Healer’s oath to soothe his passing. Probing his memory, she releases his final thought and reveals the unbelievable truth. By Birthrite, she’s the Oracle. It’s her limitless Power the Darfarne seeks, and she has a minute to escape before they realize it.
Now running for her life, Anna must learn to harness her innate Power before it destroys her. Her instincts guide her back home, where she crosses paths with her secret crush, Reade Frost. He promises to train her in magical tactics, allowing her to access her Power safely. In Reade, Anna discovers the ally she needs to survive, right up until the point he hands her over to the Darfarne.
Using her Power for the first time, Anna escapes Reade’s trap, wounding herself in the process. Rebellion forces, let by her childhood friend Colin McKensie, rush her to their base camp for Healing. Colin has mobilized citizens against the new General, wielding her name as the battle cry. He’s insisting she join the rebellion and help him fight.
The rebellion troops are greatly outnumbered; however, their confidence is buoyed by the presence of the Oracle. Everyone is certain of victory, except Anna. She’s overwhelmed by the responsibility of saving her people, heartbroken over the betrayal by Reade, and unable to harness the Power which determines their fate.
Battle begins and is more horrifying than Anna ever imagined. As she watches, Reade strikes down Colin. Her mind screams out one word: No. Her emotion ignites the full extent of her Power, freezing both armies. War is over, but Anna’s personal Healing is far from done.
