Review by Frank Plowright

The spiritual contamination caused by a dead dragon is so vast it can’t be cleared up by a single Soul Sender, so Alpi has joined forces with several others. The shock dropped in Vol. 5, though, was that not all in the party harboured good intentions, a couple were Changelings, able to alter their form, and that there were beings actively encouraging the spread of darkness. While Alpi has always been a downbeat story, Rona introduced the first utterly malign creations.

It wasn’t a story concluded in Vol. 5, and the opening chapters here show Alpi’s determination to continue the soul sending process in the face of adversity and while a battle rages around her. It leads to the revelation of one party member having more character than previously displayed, and an uplifting solution to a large problem.

However, there’s now the new concern about Changelings, and the remainder of Vol. 6 is a clever reconfiguration of much that’s been assumed about Alpi and her assistant Peronai to date. It flashes back to Alpi’s even younger days training at a temple, to the time when her parents first disappeared, and her growing concern about not receiving any further communication from them. It’s also a story about prejudice in what ought to be a pure and spiritual world, so surprisingly harsh in places, yet very touching in others, particularly with regard to the bond Peronai feels with Alpi, so always very sympathetic.

As always, Rona’s art is rich in personality and offers beautifully drawn landscapes. A foreboding final chapter is the lead in to Vol. 7, which ends the series. That’s also surprising as Rona’s created a world with much still to explore.