Hall of Smoke

Hessa is an Eangi, a warrior-priestess of the Goddess of War whose scream can turn an enemy’s bones to dust. Banished for disobeying a divine command to kill a traveler, she is praying alone on a mountainside when raiders descend on her village and slaughter the entire Eangi priesthood. Now the last of her order, grieving and adrift, Hessa sets out to find the traveler she spared and atone for her failure, hoping to earn back her goddess’s favor and a place beside her loved ones in the High Halls. Her path leads through a homeland being torn apart by northern clans and southern legionaries, beset by fanatic soldiers, scheming gods, and demons stirring back to life. What she uncovers is far worse than war: the gods themselves are dying and the afterlife is fading. As her prayers go unanswered, Hessa’s faith begins to crack, and she is drawn into a struggle between the old gods and the new where far more than her own soul hangs in the balance. Inspired by Norse and Viking-age cultures, it is a tale of grief, devotion, and the terrible question of what to do when the divine falls silent.