Brilliant Darkness

Seventeen-year-old Groundling, Fennel, is Sightless. She's never been able to see her lush forest home, but she knows its secrets. She knows how the shadows shift when she passes under a canopy of trees. She knows how to hide in the cool, damp caves when the Scourge comes. She knows how devious and arrogant the Groundlings' tree-dwelling neighbors, the Lofties, can be. And she's always known this day would come--the day she faces the Scourge alone.

Peree knows what he’s doing as the new Keeper of the Water Bearer, Fennel. He knows Fennel’s Sightless. He knows that means the Scourge can’t hurt her when she gathers fresh water for her people. He knows how to wield his bow and arrow to kill piles of the revolting flesh-eaters as they swarm around her. He’ll motivate her, distract her, do anything he can to keep her working. And most important, he'll make sure his people get every drop of their share of the water she collects.

It hasn't been long since Fennel, a Sightless Groundling, and Peree, her Lofty Keeper, fell in love and learned the truth: the Scourge, and their world, are not what they seem. Fenn and Peree are determined to guide their people to the protected village of Koolkuna, but first they must convince them that everything they believe is a lie. An impossible task, especially when someone seems hell-bent on trying anything - even animal sacrifice and arson - to destroy the couple's new bond and crush the frail truce between the Groundlings and the Lofties.

Fennel and Peree are finally together and safe from the scourge in the protected village of Koolkuna. Except, on the day of their partnering ceremony, the children of the village are stolen away - Fenn's loyal companion Kora among them. If Fenn is to survive the threat of the scourge, rescue the children from the sisters, and have a hope of making a life with Peree in Koolkuna, she must face her fear of failure and loss and become the leader she's destined to be.