Demon in the Wood explores the history of the series’ core antagonist, Aleksander. A shadow-summoner from a world where magic is entirely shunned. People like Aleksander and his mother are called witches by ordinary folk—but among themselves, they go by the name Grisha. A term for people who can manipulate certain elements: water, air, or fire. There are those with the power to stop the beating of a heart. But Aleksander and his kin, they control darkness.