Pancras thought trouble waited at the end of his journey. Shadow demons, chaos rifts, and petty archmages all conspire to disrupt his quiet life. Summoned to face a Mage's Guild inquest over minor grievances, the minotaur wizard leaves home and travels south with his companions, the twins Delilah and Kale.Harsh winter weather traps them in an unfriendly city where a run-in with a drunken bully leaves him dead and the trio in jail. Fortunately, the opportunistic prince of the city needs a wizard to curse his unwanted wife. The only catch is Pancras's sense of honor. As he stalls for time, the twins involve themselves in an uprising in the city's salt mines. Pancras left necromancy behind him, but it's looking more and more like he'll need to break his moral code--and further anger the Mage's Guild--to get them out of the city in one piece.Malediction is book one in the exciting Scars of the Sundering trilogy set in the World of Calliome.