The Song of the Blackthorn Tree

The blood of his enemies flows through his veins. 

Niles, a gentle giant and outcast, has spent years hiding in the Sunland—a land that tolerates but does not welcome him. Born to two warring northern races that both despise him, he was exiled as a child and has spent his life avoiding the bloodshed that follows his kind. But when a storm ravages his adopted village and superstitious whispers turn against him, Niles is forced to leave. Haunted by dreams of his lost sister—sold into slavery years ago—he sets out on a brutal trek north, where the land is as deadly as the people who rule it.

Alongside an unlikely mentor, a headstrong noblewoman far beyond his reach, and a dwindling hope that his sister is still alive, Niles faces the elements, slavers, and the relentless Dhurkai—Viking-like warriors bent on exterminating half-bloods like him. As the journey pushes him past his limits, he must decide: is he the outcast they have always feared, or can he forge his own fate? If he fails, he will lose more than just his life—he will lose the people who have become his family.

With themes of identity, sacrifice, and perseverance, The Song of the Blackthorn Tree explores the tension between fate and free will in a world where the past refuses to be buried.