In the rain-slicked highlands of the Kaskar Valley, a young veterinary scientist named Dr. Elara Vance knelt beside a ewe that refused to mother her newborn lamb. The lamb, a trembling black-legged thing, bleated in the cold mud while the ewe stared past it, chewing nothing, eyes empty as river stones.

What it does

"He’s possessed," Mark insisted, nursing a bandaged hand. "One minute he’s snoozing on the rug, the next he lunges. We’re afraid he’s going to hurt the kids."