Lifemarked

While the war for the Four Kingdoms drags on, a new threat emerges from across the sea. To the North, Annise Gäric seek to rescue Lady Zelda and retake Castle Hill from the sellswords known as the Brotherhood. In the back of her mind is a growing fear, something she can't quite explain. Meanwhile, Lisbeth Lorne tries to regain control of the ancient army of Sleeping Knights before they become the horde of death her soulmark has shown to her in visions. In the West, Rhea Loren find herself at a crossroads: continue down the path of destruction or seek another way, another life. 

 To the north, Annise Gäric ventures into the Hinterlands to discover the truth of the Sleeping Knights, who may be the only hope for her kingdom. Meanwhile, Tarin Sheary travels to Darrin in a desperate bid to repel the eastern forces amassing at Crow's Nest. Unbeknownst to either of them, a new threat rises in Blackstone. 

While Annise Gäric and her forces march on Castle Hill to retake the northern throne, her cousin, Rhea Loren, wages a naval war against Blackstone. Meanwhile, Roan Loren and Gwendolyn Storm struggle to breach the gnarled, vine-choked undergrowth of the Tangle in their quest to reach Knight's End and learn more of the true purpose of the fatemarked. In the south, a Calypsian empress is murdered, and her daughters fight to claim the empire and wage a civil war against their estranged father's armies. In Phanes, slavery runs rampant while a rebel group fights to free the oppressed people.

They are the fatemarked. Misunderstood. Worshipped. Hated. Murdered at birth. Their time to step into the light has come. An ancient prophecy foretold their coming, the chosen few who will bring peace to a land embroiled in a century of mistrust and war. When kings start dying, that hope and belief swiftly turns to fear. Roan Loren is one of the fatemarked, but has hidden his mark of power his entire life, fearing the damage it might cause to those around him. A great evil is coming. He can't hide anymore.

With the south in full rebellion, the goblins stirring on the northern frontier, and the summer capital being run by a corrupt baron and a gang of thugs, things could be better. But those aren’t the worst of her problems: Pentandra is learning how to live with her new husband, Arborn, while the town is driven to distraction by an incarnate sex goddess who is organizing all of the whores, a mopey spellmonger, a nun addicted to gambling, a prude sent by the queen, undead skulking through the shadows, and a mysterious blind girl shows up in her office claiming to be her new apprentice.

Minalan the spellmonger faces the boredom of house arrest after being confined to his lands by Prince Tavard for his defiance with the Wilderlands refugees. The Alka Alon have returned to their seclusion, dealing with their own crisis, the dead god is being quiet within the Umbra, and Min’s plans toward reestablishing a functional Duchy of Alshar are progressing. Min sees his punishment as a unique opportunity to indulge in thaumaturgical research. 

What does the most powerful wizard in the world do after the war? Despite the hordes of goblins still ready to ravage human lands, King Rard has signed a treaty with them, so Minalan is forbidden from taking advantage of their weak state. Most would take a well-deserved rest over the summer…but Minalan and his household are busy repaying a favor owed to the tribal Kasari for their help in the war, and the Spellmonger pays his debts. So Minalan spends his summer sneaking 2,000 Kasari children through enemy lines and some of the roughest territory in the Five Duchies toward salvation. 

The White Lich has conquered Tanar Atain. Soon, he means to take the entire world. Dante suspects his next target will be Bressel, where the Tanarians have established their court in exile. The only chance to stop the lich will be to forge a fragile alliance between the bitter enemies of three different lands: Tanar Atain, Mallon, and Narashtovik. The city stands on the brink of rebellion. Yet even if Dante, Blays, and Gladdic can unite it, they still might not have the strength to stand against the army of the lich.

The future of the Ashaiian haven, the newly founded Kingdom of Cael, is anything but secured. Rezkin must seek recognition from the King of Gendishen if his people are to maintain possession of their island home and the enchanted secret it contains. In an unexpected twist, events overtake Rezkin, and he is thrust into a frustrating adventure to seek a worthless prize. He finds that his carefully constructed reputation as an indomitable foe has consequences as others seek to use his strengths for their own gain. 

 Things were starting to look up for Magelord Minalan the Spellmonger: The magic mountain in his domain not only made him a wealthy man and the most powerful mage in history, it also produced a lode of magical gemstones with unique properties - properties the Alka Alon, the masters of magic on Callidore, are fascinated by. When Minalan gets his chance to trade some of his magic rocks for irionite, he finds himself in a position to raise hundreds more magi with the stones...making them High Magi. 

The Wizard's Council of Tarador was supposed to tell young Koren Bladewell that he is a wizard. They were supposed to tell everyone that he is not a jinx, that all the bad things that happen around him are because he can't control the power inside him, power he doesn't know about. The people of his village, even his parents, are afraid of him, afraid he is cursed. That he is a dangerous, evil jinx.

Koren Bladewell's future was stolen from him, by wizards who chose to lie, to conceal the fact that Koren is a wizard. Crown princess Ariana Trehayme must find a way to become queen before her 16th birthday - before her indecisive mother allows all of Tarador to be conquered.

Keras Selyrian is already well on the way to cutting his name into the annals of legend. He’s fought false divinities, thieving sorcerers, and corrupt demigods - and left them defeated in his wake. But he’s a long way from home, and Kaldwyn offers a different brand of danger than he’s used to. He’s already got a sword of unfathomable power, but it’s damaged and leaking world-annihilating mana, so he’s in the market for a new one. Possibly six. The more the better, really.

Ashok Vadal was once a member of the highest caste in all of Lok. As a Protector, he devoted his life to upholding the Law, rooting out those who still practiced the old ways and delivering justice with his ancestor blade Angruvadal. None was more merciless than he in stamping out the lingering belief in gods and demons among the casteless. His brutality was legendary and celebrated. But soon Ashok learned that his life to that point had been a lie. He himself, senior member of the Protector Order, was casteless. He had been nothing more than an unwitting pawn in a political game.

When the Magelord Minalan, the Spellmonger's two apprentices, Tyndal and Rondal, were knighted after the battle of Timberwatch, they were dubbed Knights Magi: a new class of nobility for distinguished High Magi. Designed to combine the pursuit of arcane knowledge with the noble aspirations of chivalry, it elevated them above common warmage...in theory. The problem was they had no idea how to be a Knight Mage...because no one had ever been one before.