The Gods have fallen.
The Three Nations are in chaos.
Archon is coming.
Enala is surrounded, trapped on the blood-soaked sands of Malevolent Cove. Desperate and alone, she watches the sky, and the Gold Dragons soaring above. Yet it is not the beasts she fears – but the men and woman encircling her. They promise their protection, but they are only words, and she has already lost everything to betrayal. Swamped by grief, she teeters on the edge of madness.
Meanwhile, Eric is close to mastering the curse of his magic. The perilous force writhes within him, desperate for freedom, but he refuses to bend to its will. Instead, he is determined to wield it for good, and right the wrongs of his past.
The Three Nations are crumbling.
Darkness is gathering.
Only one remains to stand against it.
Eric stumbles through the wilderness, searching, hunting – desperate for sign of his sister. But the girl is gone, stolen away by the power of the Soul Blade. With each passing hour its hold on her tightens, her spirit fading before the onslaught of its magic. If he cannot save her soon, it will claim her soul. And he will have to kill her.
Meanwhile, Gabriel is trapped, imprisoned in the black cells beneath Ardath. The darkness presses in around him, absolute, suffocating. Time, hope, sanity, all have long since slipped beneath the waves of his despair. Only it remains – the unrelenting voice of the demon. It haunts the darkness, tempting him with the promises of freedom. How long can he resist its call?
For five hundred years the Gods have united the Three Nations in harmony. Now that balance has been shattered, and chaos threatens.
A town burns and flames light the night sky. Hunted and alone, seventeen year old Eric flees through the wreckage. The mob grows closer, baying for the blood of their tormentor. Guilt weighs on his soul, but he cannot stop, cannot turn back. If he stops, they die.
For two years he has carried this curse, bringing death and destruction wherever he goes. But now there is another searching for him – one who offers salvation. His name is Alastair, and he knows the true nature of the curse. Magic.
Rydian Halt has defeated one of the immortal Alfur, the alien species that has ruled over humanity for generations. With newfound power burning in his veins, for a brief moment, anything seemed possible. Freedom for himself, for his people, for all of Talamh.
Until the Haze struck.
Now cast into the wildlands of Talamh, Rydian struggles for survival-and his very sanity. Each time he uses his new power, the Haze threatens, tearing at his mind. But without its aid, Rydian won't last a day against the beasts that stalk him. He needs an ally, one that can teach him about the Light that now burns within him. The Alfur have kept its secrets close, but there is one who might aid him, an Alfur who seems to loathe her own people almost as much as any human.
Rotin, gladiator of the Alfur.
On the wild planet of Talamh, humanity thrived . . . until the alien Alfur conquered their world.
Now, defeated and broken, humanity serves their immortal overlords.
And pleads to the stars for a hero.
Rydian Holt is nothing, nobody. Just another human from the streets of Talamh. Or at least, that's what he thinks-until his mother is caught up in a fledgling resistance group. Branded a traitor and sentenced to fight in the arena, now Rydian must face hardened gladiators in single combat. To survive and advance through the ranks, he'll need the help of an enigmatic weapons master-and more than a little luck.
But after a lifetime of servitude, survival is no longer enough for Rydian. He seeks a way to fight back-not just against his fellow gladiators, but against the Alfur themselves. If Rydian can uncover their greatest secret-the truth about the mysterious Light that powers their world-he might just win his freedom.
