title: Nightshade City (Nightshade Chronicles, Book 1)
author:  Hilary Wagner 
description: "Fans of Redwall and the Warriors series will love this heroic tale of good versus evil in a subterranean society of rats." --Rick Riordan, Author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series
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  ![THE TAINTED CITY](title.jpg)
  
  
    
  
  
  ![Book II of The Shattered Sigil](title2.jpg)
  
  
    
  
  
  ![COURTNEY SCHAFER](author.jpg)
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
  NIGHT SHADE BOOKS
  
  
  SAN FRANCISCO
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  OTHER BOOKS BY COURTNEY SCHAFER
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
  The Shattered Sigil
  
  
  _Book I: The Whitefire Crossing_
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  _The Tainted City_ © 2012 by Courtney Schafer
  
  
  This edition of _The Tainted City_ © 2012 by Night Shade Books
  
  
    
  
  
  Cover art by David Palumbo
  
  
  Cover design by Martha Wade
  
  
  Interior layout and design by Amy Popovich
  
  
    
  
  
  Edited by Jeremy Lassen
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
  All rights reserved
  
  
  **First Edition**
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
  ISBN: 978-1-59780-403-5
  
  
  eISBN: 978-1-59780-428-8
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
  **Night Shade Books**
  
  
  [www.nightshadebooks.com](http://www.nightshadebooks.com)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
  _To Kevin, who already knows the joy of adventure_
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Chapter One
  
  
  **(Dev)**
  
  
  I wedged my fingers higher in the crack snaking up the boulder’s overhanging
  face. A push of a f