He is terrified of the dark. He doesn't like bugs. And the one thing he wants the most he cannot have. He is Adalanto, the vagabond's son. This uncommon, biographical fantasy takes an introductory glimpse into a world locked in the midst of imposed evolution, and not all the magical folk who inhabit the Black Wood are creatures of the light. Born to an outlaw and favored by the goddess, after he escapes a life of brutality with his father, Adalanto is suddenly thrust into a society he never knew existed. Struggling to adapt, he must battle the ghosts of a turbulent past in his rise to power. But when the kingdom is rent apart in the wake of a dragon's destruction, he comes to discover that no one can outrun the dark.