Power, sealed in blood. The price, etched into bone. On a shattered continent shrouded by forgotten wilderness and the shadows of ancient Bloodbeasts, survival itself is a desperate gamble. When a hunter/warrior pushed to the brink of starvation and despair, confronts a dying Bloodbeast radiating terrifying power, he makes a choice that shatters fate—a choice that could lead to salvation or damnation: He drinks the beast's searing, power-charged blood. This is not mere survival. It is a violent fusion with the very essence of an alien life. Instantly, power erupts within him like a volcano! Kael gains abilities beyond imagining: Perhaps claws that rend steel... or the occult art of blood manipulation... or eyes that pierce illusions... or the terrifying power to briefly assume a Bloodbeast's form... No longer a struggling insect at the bottom, he becomes a figure of awe and dread. The wilderness bows before him. Mighty foes tremble. Yet, the sweetness of power comes with a gnawing, soul-scorching price. Each use of his abilities brings soul-rending agony and an insatiable bloodlust he can barely control. The Bloodbeast's feral will, like a parasite, latches onto his mind, roaring to consume his humanity and transform him utterly into a mindless monster of slaughter. Worse, he discovers the Bloodbeasts are not mindless—their blood holds ancient curses and secret, unfathomable purposes... Kael walks a razor's edge. He wields this perilous power to carve a path through a brutal world, seeking redemption or vengeance, yet must constantly battle the "beast" threatening to break free within. Former comrades recoil in fear. Powerful factions brand him a heretic or prey. And the watchful eyes of other Bloodbeasts, lurking in the shadows, regard this "Thief of Fire" with icy hostility. Will he become the hunter... or the hunted? Can he master the Demon-Blood within to become a guardian—a "Demon-Blood Warrior"—or will the power consume him, casting him into eternal darkness? When the first tear of the Bloodbeast falls within his heart... will he even remember his own name?