He did not ask for power. He found it in blood, bone, and the old ways that do not forgive mistakes. Ketu is a Mi'kmaq boy learning to carry what others fear to touch. A bear's claw. An eagle's feather. A wolf's fur. Each piece brings him closer to something more than human, and farther from the boy he once was. The land begins to speak to him, but not in comfort. In warning. Something is wrong in the north. Animals are being taken. Twisted. Used. The balance between spirit and flesh is breaking, and at the center of it is another shapeshifter who has chosen power without respect, and control without restraint. When children begin to disappear, the line is no longer distant. Ketu must walk into the dark carrying everything he is not ready to be. Strength and fear. Rage and mercy. The knowledge that some things cannot be fixed, only stopped. This is not a story about becoming a hero. This is a story about what it costs to remain human when power is within reach.
