Dawn of the North

Book Three of The Ashen Series is set in Íseldur, a Norse-inspired fantasy realm where magic users called Galdra wield powers blessed by the Sun God Sunnvald. The story follows multiple perspectives as characters navigate political intrigue, war, and the growing influence of Myrkur, the god of chaos.

The novel opens with Queen Signe at the funeral of her daughter Yrsa, killed by an explosion Saga Volsik, the elder Volsik princess, caused in Askaborg Castle. King Ivar, Íseldur's king of the foreign Urkan conquerors, disfigured by burns, plans to attack the island nation of Zagadka, believing its people orchestrated the blast. Signe asks only that Saga be brought to her alive.

In the northern city of Kopa, Silla presents herself as Eisa Volsik, the long-lost princess, at Ashfall Fortress. Daily doses of hindrium, a metal that blocks Galdra magic, suppress the shard of Myrkur inside her, preventing it from accessing her Ashbringer ability, a fire-based Galdra power. The shard is a consequence of her mother Queen Svalla's bargain with the god. Her lover, Reynir "Rey" Galtung, a Galdra warrior, stands beside her. Jarl Hakon, the northern lord hosting them, announces plans to unify the jarls under the Volsik banner while Ivar is abroad.

Hekla, Silla's one-armed warrior friend, arrives with the Bloodaxe Crew, a band of fighters formerly led by Rey. Accompanying them is Eyvind Hakonsson, Jarl Hakon's younger son. They report that a sentient mist that Turns living creatures into draugur, or undead beings, has escaped the Western Woods. Jarl Hakon assigns Rey to address the threat while Silla courts the jarls under the guidance of Lady Tala, a jarl's widow.

Across the ocean, Saga remains locked in Kovograd Fortress by Kassandr Rurik, heir to the Zagadkian throne. She cannot use her Sense, a mind-reading ability, on Zagadkian soil. Kassandr proposes marriage as political protection, but Saga refuses. She visits Havoc, a caged winged horse that killed Kassandr's older brother Radomir, the original heir. An oracle prophesied that whoever rides Havoc will usher in a new era. Inspired, Saga confronts her agoraphobia and panic disorder by stepping onto her balcony for the first time.

Kassandr engineers a meeting between Saga and his father the high prince, who orders Saga to write Ivar a letter accepting blame for the explosion. When Kassandr is sent away as punishment, his half brother Oleg sends assassins after Saga. Kassandr returns in his beast form, a grotesque oversized wolf-like creature, and kills the attackers. Afterward, the two begin daily language lessons that double as covert war planning.

In Kopa, someone poisons Silla's tea, killing a bystander. She visits Fallgerd, a former retainer of her great-grandfather King Hrolf, who reveals Hrolf found a potential cure for his own bargain with Myrkur but was too old to attempt it. Myrkur seizes control of Silla's body while she sleeps, and she awakens to find Fallgerd dead with blood on her hands. Lady Tala convinces her to conceal the killing.

Rey and Hekla enter the Western Woods and free the Forest Maiden, a legendary spirit trapped in a tree. The Maiden reveals the mist is Myrkur's progeny, a "leech" that entered the mortal realm through a corrupted hjarta tree, the forest's sacred heart-tree. Only the "Protector," revealed to be Silla, can destroy it. Rey returns to Kopa while Hekla leads the group deeper into the woods with Kritka, the Maiden's companion, a squirrel capable of transforming into a grimwolf, a wolf of supernatural size.

Rey discovers his daily letters to Silla were intercepted. Investigation reveals Ingvarr, head of Silla's queensguard, is the assassin behind all the attacks on her life, working for Queen Signe. Fabric from Ingvarr's surcoat found in Fallgerd's hand proves he, not Silla, killed the retainer. Ingvarr is found dead before he can be questioned.

Beneath Ashfall, Silla discovers ancient murals showing a Volsik king wielding a halda stone, a mineral storing raw magical energy, against Myrkur. She realizes her bloodline gift allows her to draw power from halda deposits and from other Galdra. During a rockslide, she instinctively pulls energy from the stone and blasts the boulders away. She later learns to siphon Rey's Ashbringer fire and the abilities of Runný, an ally whose Shadow Hound power bends light.

In Zagadka, the Urkan fleet besieges Kovograd. The peace delegation is massacred, and the head of Elder Bogdan, the Zagadkian elder chosen to lead it, is catapulted back with a note demanding blood. Kassandr leads the defense while Saga organizes fire brigades. When the stables burn, Saga frees Havoc and crosses the battlefield to surrender to Ivar, carrying a fire flask. Before she can use it, Havoc swoops down, and she escapes on his back, flying west to the horsemaidens, the clans beyond the river. After the clansmother, the western clans' leader, initially refuses aid, Saga mounts Havoc, fulfilling the oracle's prophecy. 300 horsewomen pledge to fight, and they return to break the siege, Saga destroying the siege tower from the air.

The high prince agrees to send warriors and grain but requires Saga to marry into the Rurik bloodline. She chooses Kassandr, and they wed at the temple of the seasonal gods.

Silla secretly meets Jarl Agnar, a crucial eastern lord, and learns Lady Tala delivered false demands to provoke conflict between Hakon and Agnar on Queen Signe's behalf. Silla publicly exposes Tala. The jarls reconcile, and Silla addresses the assembly as herself, dropping the Eisa pretense. She shares her origins, confesses Myrkur's bargain, and asks for warriors. The jarls pledge their forces, yielding roughly 400 fighters.

Jonas Svik, Silla's former companion who betrayed her, seeks out Queen Signe, offering his knowledge of Eisa Volsik in exchange for restoring his family's honor. After surviving a brutal initiation trial, he is welcomed into the Corpse Bringers, a warband of criminals and draugur. Signe reveals plans for the warband's ritual transformation at Rökksgarde and promises Jonas vengeance against the Volsik sisters.

Hekla leads her group through the dying woods, battling the giant wolfspider Gjalla. She and Eyvind plunge over a waterfall during the fight. Hekla stitches his wound one-handed, and Eyvind reveals his feelings for her. They reconcile tentatively before grimwolves carry them back to the main group.

Silla marches to the heartwood and discovers the corrupted hjarta tree can only be destroyed by Myrkur's own chaos magic. She challenges the god to single combat: If she wins, her mother's bargain is broken for both sisters; if He wins, He gains her bloodline gift. Myrkur animates a Turned bear as His avatar. Rey holds the mist at bay until his galdur, or magical energy, is exhausted, and Eyvind arrives with Ashbringer flames to relieve him. Hekla kills Gjalla in a second encounter and frees Kritka from the spider's silk.

Myrkur overwhelms Silla. Saga, sensing her sister's distress while flying over Íseldur with Kassandr on Havoc, diverts to the heartwood. Through their bond, Saga floods Silla with memories of their parents, pulling her back. Silla siphons Runný's ability to form a reflective shield; the bear's black flames bounce back and destroy both it and the tree. The Forest Maiden catalyzes the tree's decomposition, reviving the surrounding forest. Myrkur's bargain is broken, and the sisters embrace.

In Kopa, the reunited sisters present a united front. Saga announces the Zagadkian alliance: warriors, winged horsemaidens, and grain. They plan to march on Sunnavík to reclaim the kingdom. Kraki, former leader of the Bloodaxe Crew, delivers devastating news: The dragon Kraugeir, long slumbering in the fire mountains, has awoken.

In the epilogue, Ivar's concubine Eldrún attacks him with blades, moving with Harefoot, or supernatural, speed. He kills her but is fatally wounded. Signe enters, reveals she placed Eldrún as his concubine, pulls the dagger from his side, and watches him bleed out, fulfilling the promise she made at Yrsa's funeral.