The Birth of a Monster (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781922912350)

The Eldovian Empire covers an ancient land that has seen the rise and fall of many a dynasty. Now word has begun to spread in the most secret parts of the country that the current Imperial bloodline has little time left...

In the rural north, eleven-year-old Rassa is burdened with a secret nature he would do anything to be rid of. His desire to be normal like all his friends seems like a dream most days, and an impossible reality when the gluttonous hunger within him is unleashed at night. His excitement at even the mildest of solutions makes him careless, and the slightest mistake proves fatal for more reasons than one.

In the mightiest Ducal House of the Empire, thirteen-year-old Aegin trains to be the perfect servant, spy and assassin, just like his father. But his curiosity holds him back at the best of times even when his physical skills are a bar above the rest. When given a mission despite his youth, he knows that he needs to prove himself, or lose the faith of those he looks up to.

When the two boys meet, their individual masks are beginning to slip, but can the two recognise the similarities in each other's plights before their masks crumble for all to see the monsters within?