Brilliant writing, overall. The descriptions, particularly of the scenery really bring it to life and draw in the reader. Well, they drew me in, at least.

I like the idea of  a reverse prophecy! What I mean is that so often you read stories about the hero trying to escape the prophecy of him being this great person who is going to save people. It is refreshing to find one about a person trying to escape the destiny of being what will hurt people. Nice.