Something Born of Defiance

The wildlings are a fallen civilization, left with only fingerprints of a long-forgotten goddess, born fully-grown from the desert sand and hunted by the human empress for the rare few of their kind who can harness powerful magic. Xen, a chosen protector of her people, flees a raid on their camp with all who escape, struggling to survive the soldiers as much as her own self-sabotage. But an unlikely friendship gives her hope for a better world, even if she has to go through the empress to get it.