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About This Book
In a far distant land, where legends roam, three races face their troubles together.
One race, the insect-like aemets, can airsense the wind's movement and encourage plant growth with their magic. Aemets are wary folk not known for taking risks — and yet aemets founded Aloftway, a remote mountain village without enough otherkind allies to support it.
Living in this village is Rue, a middle-child aemet on the cusp of adulthood. She yearns to pick a trade and define her life by her own terms, but Aloftway's poor crop yields press Rue into service foraging for wild food. Then fire ravages the forest. And then wolves attack an aemet person — and another, and another. Lacking precident in their legends, menaced by the forest they revere, the people of Aloftway look to Rue and her rumoured luck.
But Rue has never believed in luck. She believes in taking action. With a guard dog to defend her, she searches the forest not just for food, but for resources and allies. She talks a local recluse down from the sky: Felixi, a member of the dragon-like korvi race. This hunter of wild game has the skills to keep Aloftway's guard dogs fed. But as food grows scarce, the wolves grow bolder and Rue befriends the cantankerous hunter, she suspects that Felixi knows more about the wolf attacks than he is willing to share — and she must gain his trust if Aloftway village is to survive.
Render is intended for open-minded adults. This novel is a stand-alone work: it can be read without prior knowledge of the other Stories of Aligare books.
One race, the insect-like aemets, can airsense the wind's movement and encourage plant growth with their magic. Aemets are wary folk not known for taking risks — and yet aemets founded Aloftway, a remote mountain village without enough otherkind allies to support it.
Living in this village is Rue, a middle-child aemet on the cusp of adulthood. She yearns to pick a trade and define her life by her own terms, but Aloftway's poor crop yields press Rue into service foraging for wild food. Then fire ravages the forest. And then wolves attack an aemet person — and another, and another. Lacking precident in their legends, menaced by the forest they revere, the people of Aloftway look to Rue and her rumoured luck.
But Rue has never believed in luck. She believes in taking action. With a guard dog to defend her, she searches the forest not just for food, but for resources and allies. She talks a local recluse down from the sky: Felixi, a member of the dragon-like korvi race. This hunter of wild game has the skills to keep Aloftway's guard dogs fed. But as food grows scarce, the wolves grow bolder and Rue befriends the cantankerous hunter, she suspects that Felixi knows more about the wolf attacks than he is willing to share — and she must gain his trust if Aloftway village is to survive.
Render is intended for open-minded adults. This novel is a stand-alone work: it can be read without prior knowledge of the other Stories of Aligare books.