Roots of Darkness
Traveling the Road of Bones was only the start of Hekla’s troubles.
The Bloodaxe Crew have arrived at the village of Istré—beleaguered and missing three of their members. They might be down in numbers, but Hekla ‘Rib Smasher’ is determined they’ll complete their job all the same: defeat the evil mist with a heartbeat and keep the citizens of Istré safe. What she didn’t expect is for Istré’s bull-headed chieftain to block her every move.
Exasperated, Hekla throws caution to the wind for a single passion-filled night. But to her horror, the mysterious, red-cloaked warrior to whom she’d spilled her deepest secrets, is the Bloodaxe Crew’s new temporary leader and ally—Eyvind Hakonsson.
Hekla must now learn to play by Eyvind’s rules while guarding her heart. But when it becomes clear that his plans align with the chieftain’s, Hekla takes matters into her own hands.
Nothing will stop her from keeping the innocent people of Istré safe—not even the man who haunts her thoughts.
Join Hekla and the remnants of the Bloodaxe Crew as they battle the evil, poisonous mist threatening the citizens of Istré—and perhaps all of Íseldur. This Ashen Series novella should be read after Kingdom of Claw.
Readers also enjoyed
Demi Winters
In a world of dragons, frostbitten coasts, and reluctant mercenaries, Demi Winters found her voice—not in a bustling writer’s room or MFA program, but at her kitchen table in British Columbia, balancing a toddler on one hip and Norse mythologies in the other hand. Her breakout romantic fantasy series, The Ashen Series, began with The Road of Bones, a novel that arrived not with fireworks but with a steady storm: quiet at first, then impossible to ignore.
Winters doesn’t write heroes who are born strong. She writes women like Silla Nordvig—wounded, quiet, often underestimated—who find strength in survival and power in vulnerability. Her landscapes are forged from fire and ice, inspired by Icelandic sagas and shaped by a fascination with endurance: how people endure grief, exile, addiction, and even love when it arrives at the wrong time, in the wrong form.
The Ashen
In a land where winter never loosens its grip and bloodlines are forged in betrayal, The Ashen series leads readers deep into a world that feels carved from frost and fire. Set against the unforgiving wilds of Íseldur—a Norse-inspired realm steeped in runic magic and ancestral vengeance—this dark romantic fantasy unfolds with aching beauty and brutal clarity.
The Ashen consists of three primary books, and includes one additional book that complement the series but is not considered mandatory reads and series is set to expand with the upcoming release of one more book. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
