This and Ursula Le Guin's Wizard of Earthsea are my favorite fantasy/sci fi books of all time - and both have a similar theme, related to owning one's shadow. Beautifully written and readable simply as a story or as a spiritual/psychological allegory, this tale of the young Khira and her developing friendship with the strange and troublesome Darkchild will haunt you for years.
Well detailed characters and lots of unique physical aspects to the world created by the author.
An amazing story of unique powers of the women, how they direct energy and how it changes them.