The Chosen's Descent

For millennia on the world of Hecsignum's northernmost continent, Debanon, the realm has thrived on an ancient rite known as The Call where one gifted with magic is annually sacrificed to bring fertility to the cold land. Those who give their lives for this greater good are highly praised and respected. Yet the year's chosen, Junior Mage Mathea, abandons duty and trust upon receiving nightly warnings from an enigmatic dream stalker who leads her to proof the rite is alarmingly deceitful.
Deals with demons are among the greatest taboos, but she learns the The Call was created with demonic aid. Worse, at some unknown point after enough sacrifices, this vast spell will free demons from their compulsion to honor their bargains: the only honesty their kind's obligated to provide. Unwilling to die under such implications and in desperate attempt to save Hecsignum from the ritual's true purpose, Mathea and her closest peers escape the Legerdemain Order that holds and raises most of Debanon's witches to serve the empire as living weapons, including those given to The Call.
Only Senior Mage Daya, a prodigy shapeshifter, is given anything of significant value to help reach their goal in the form of a stolen ancient magical tome providing hidden details of the rite. They all regretfully part ways upon their first bouts of "freedom, " each struggling to survive as they face their own challenges on their quest.