On the island of Oton, the ailif people have long enslaved the native mer. Mer Meryt cared for an elderly ailif. She meets brutality when she is sold to the governor, whose military rule seethes with black magic.
Cer K’tral lived in the Temple of Meren in the witch and snake infested jungle all his life, his duty to be Consort to Meren. Now, he can feel Her coming closer. One night, Meryt wakes from a drugged sleep in the temple of Meren. Here the mer—the true owners of the island—have awaited Meren to make the island once more their own.
Meren Meryt must learn to love her people before she leads them. When Cer K’tral learns to wield the power of the Death-Bringer and the Hunter, he becomes a God on his own.
Together, Meryt and K’tral must find a way to free their people in a land where Gods walk incarnate.