Dance of Deer and Shadow - The Valrayne Saga, #2

Darkness sweeps across the land as the Kingdoms teeter into ruin following years of war. The Free Companies terrorize all but the strongest castles and walled towns. The Soulless, hordes of peasants driven mad by fear and starvation, tear their victims apart, searching inside the bodies for something to fill the void that haunts them. Amid the chaos Princess Lirienne Valrayne must fight her way to her brother, lying wounded and tormented by nightmare visions.
Employing both her Dances and the elixirs of alchemist Sicard Pelhisson, Lirienne braves the Shadowlands to wrest Amaury from the grip of Darkness. But the man who rises from her brother's bed speaks of strange visions, and displays strange obsessions. Instead of freeing Amaury, has Lirienne brought an Avatar of Darkness into an already tortured world?When Lirienne's beautiful sister Marphisa stirs in her own brand of evil, intrigue and betrayal multiply amid the battle that will determine the eternity of every soul who ever took a turn upon the Wheel of Life and Death.
The Dance of Deer and Shadow forms the second volume of a five-book epic fantasy series full of action, love, and magic, while characters try to navigate a constantly shifting reality as they fight for the highest stakes of all.