We meet this child in the first book of the Nighthunter series, trapped in a tight spot in a hotel kitchen in Cybrith Port.
On discovering that their ship to Thosea is delayed, Logan and Noran also find that Cybrith Port has been infiltrated by a sinister New Religion, and a strange being that calls itself a god. This god feeds on people’s emotional and neurological processes, making them into living but empty human shells. Believers in the religion regularly round up non-believers and leave them in a sea-cave for the god to harvest. However, the hostel that Logan chooses to stay in overnight is so afraid of the new god going on a rampage, they keep one child behind as a protective sacrifice — Cailte.
The Vorx finds her locked in a cupboard. Logan and Noran liberate her and take her with them to Captain Penglas’s ship, The Gastwrnis. It’s only as they start leaving the harbour that Cailte lets Noran know her father is one of the sacrifices in the sea-cave. After an altercation with Penglas, Logan manages to convince the Captain to turn the ship around, so he can try to save Cailte’s father, Professor Conan Burrows.
Professor Burrows wants to take Cailte to Thosea, the only continent where magecraft and magic are still legal, to find someone who can help her control the terrifying, awe-inspiring powers she’s developing as a result of being the daughter of a human and a succubus. They join Penglas’s crew and face all kinds of bizarre monsters and dangers on the way to the continent.
Finding help for Cailte proves to be a lot more work than they bargained for, and it reveals something ancient and odd about the child’s soul…
Check out the latest Writing Tips article here — a list of fantasy cliches to avoid:
Don’t forget, email subscribers get a free gift once a month in their inbox. Coming up: a Nighthunter-themed song playlist.
Nightwalks 