Runes, steel, secrets. Which one will kill me first?

I am a bog-blood. A half-bred outcast in a village of Viking descendants. Just about everyone here hates me. Luckily, I have a way out.

Every year, Vikingrune Academy selects a single initiate from each legacy village to attend its prestigious school. This year, I am determined to be my village's initiate. I yearn for the legendary longship to haul me away through the arcane mists, to a land where I will hone my fighting and runeshaping abilities. It's a great honor to join the academy, with the endgame of fighting in the war against humanity's greatest foe: the elves.

At least that's what the brochure promises. In truth? Vikingrune Academy is not what it seems. I have to bend my morals just to get there. I'm given just one semester to prove myself, or I'll be exiled forever. Sinfully wicked men try to break me down, relentless professors test my resolve, and dangerous trials push me to my limits.

But I belong here. I won't let anyone convince me otherwise. I've fought too damn hard.

I also share a secret no one knows—the true reason I've risked life and limb to attend: So I can discover who destroyed my family name… and kill them all.