Daniel Howard's debut novella brings James of Darkwood out of the shadows to the pastoral Eastlands: a land of magi who commune with the Source to protect the realm and simple folk who work hard to build themselves a better life. But dark things dwell beyond the lights of town... They come in the night. They come for the children. Slavers. Tabitha is a girl who dreams of vanquishing monsters and rescuing the innocent. Then she is sold to a mysterious man of grotesque appetites. She discovers that monsters are very real and innocence is a fragile thing. James of Darkwood is Eloria'an, known to the common people of the realm as a Watcher in the Woods, a Folk of the Forest, or simply an elf. But he carries with him a dark secret that has forever cut him off from the Source of Life and All Things. Brutally trained as an assassin by the House of Knives, James may be the only hope for children bound for slavery – and worse – as he leaves a wake of death in his search for vengeance across what was once a peaceful land. Can James rescue the children, and with them a small part of his soul? Or will the Void take them all into dark oblivion?