The Will and the Wilds

When she was a baby, Enna’s father traveled beyond the wildwood to the realm of mystings (monstrous creatures) and stole a precious stone to protect his daughter. The Telling Stone warns whoever possesses it when mystings are near. Twenty years later, inquisitive Enna wears the stone daily to protect herself but also to study the deadly creatures it warns of. After being stalked by several mystings, all attempting to retrieve the stone, Enna summons a large humanoid mysting, Maekallus, complete with razor sharp tail and a massive horn protruding from his forehead. She strikes up a bargain with him, but such bargains are never as simple as they seem. Trickster Maekallus ends up trapped in the human world, slowly dying and tied to Enna. Enna can save Maekallus with a reenergizing kiss, giving up part of her soul in the process. Inextricably linked, Enna and Maekallus demonstrate that they both are more than they initially seemed. In this variation on Beauty and the Beast themes, Holmberg (“Paper Magician” series) zeroes in on two isolated heroes, allowing their relationship to gradually progress while they explore their feelings and seek information about the stone.