Lands of No Return

Alma of Masozi, once God-Queen Almakai of Maseko, has finally rediscovered what it means to be mortal. She lives in the Kao-Riyah Delta, half a continent away from the land she once ruled. Stripped of her power, she has found peace in the minor magic of a simple river-guide. She has buried hard truths to stay where she is, but when her old enemies come searching for a vanished expedition, she's forced to guide them into the heart of the Kao-Riyah. Alongside a river-spirit and the man they both love, Alma makes a desperate plan to lead the searchers astray. The cost of failure could be more than her new life is worth: the lost expedition was searching for something that should have remained buried, older and colder than tyrants and gods. When this much power is at stake, long experience has taught Alma that any deception is on the table and no cost is too high. But this mission will test her soul in ways that even a fallen goddess could never have anticipated.

'Lands of No Return' is a novella, volume four of the Songs of Esoka, a series of fantasy with African roots.