The Bewitchments of Love and Hate — Storm Constantine

‘Never speak his name, never!’  Cobweb warned.  ‘Never whistle in the dark for it summons evil and he will hear it.  In the treetops, the feathered ones will know.  Watch them, Swift, watch the birds!’

That night I had a terrible dream.  In the dream, the yellow-haired har was standing in a wreath of shadowy flames and his beauty was ugliness.  He saw me and snared me in horror.  ‘Call me,’ he whispered and held out his hands, which were dripping red and shaking.  I tried to turn away, run away, but I could not move.  His eyes transfixed me.  ‘Call me!’ 

Swift is a young har, growing up in the town of Galhea, among the Varrs, one of the most feared of Wraeththu tribes. His father is Terzian, the phyle leader, his hostling the mysterious witch-har, Cobweb. Swift is sheltered from the horrors beyond his home, where humans and hara are still in conflict over territory, with the humans rapidly losing the fight. But now, different factions of hara are also engaged in hostilities.

When a face from the past reappears, amid a host of dire omens, Swift has to face the truth about his own kind and make difficult decisions about what’s best for their future. The powerful Gelaming tribe seek to take control of Megalithica, Swift’s home country, because the Varrs are barbaric and cruel and commit atrocities against any who oppose them – or so Swift is told. This does not match the memories he has of his happy childhood. But perhaps the stories are true, and a vile canker eats at the heart of the Varr hierarchy – a canker that must be cut out, whatever the cost.

The Bewitchments of Love and Hate is second volume in The Wraeththu Chronicles trilogy, expanded and updated, with chapter heading illustrations by Ruby.