What the Salt Said to the Stone

I am a salt-scourer, one of the few who can cleanse the Creeping Blight that devours our shores. My name is Otylia, and my skill is all that keeps my younger brother, Borys, alive. But when the affliction strikes him, the only cure lies with Voron, the monstrous, reclusive keeper of the Gorgon's Tooth lighthouse - a man whose very presence accelerates the Blight. He is a beast of salt-crusted stone and silent rage, his heart petrified by a loss he never speaks of. Voron offers a deal: my permanent service cleansing his blighted island in exchange for the rare ingredient that will save Borys. Trapped in his oppressive shadow, I chip away at the island's corruption and the stone around his heart, discovering the man buried beneath the monster. But the tides of his sorrow are relentless, and the island's blight is a reflection of his own soul. As a brutal storm traps us together, forcing us to rely on one another to survive, I realize the horrifying truth of our bargain. He wasn't blackmailing me for a cure; he was binding me as one. Can I save my brother and escape, or will I be eroded by the very grief I was meant to cleanse?