Dawn of Silence by Heiner de Wendt

An icy dread seeped into Arkan’s bones. Vampires, spirits, dreamscapes…How was an ordinary thief like him supposed to handle this? On a mission to find his sister, Arkan finds himself at the center of a dangerous conspiracy—orchestrated by a terrifying foe from his past. He must band together with a vampire hunter and an illusionist on the run to save a city from the undead. But an even greater darkness casts its shadows over the reforged world of Ashandri. Dawn of Silence is the beginning of a dark epic fantasy trilogy. Follow a found family of adventurers in a diverse world of high magic, ancient secrets and political intrigue.

Adult • Fantasy/Sword and Sorcery • Fantasy/Epic and High • Fantasy/Dark

Content Warning: Trauma, violence, death, murder, gore, blood, strangulation, familial abuse, child abuse, fantasy racism, drugs and spiking, animal cruelty mentions, animal death mentions, torture, mental manipulation, gaslighting, child death mentions, imprisonment, war, toxic relationships, kidnapping, magical experimentation, suicide attempt, suicidal ideation, death threats, parent death, slavery mention, grief, sexual harassment implied, terminal illness mention, terrorism, near-death experience, caste system, obscene language