On the Quest for the Riven Blade Read My Bio Accept Your Mission Path of Peril Synopsis Read the Excerpts Sign the Petition

In a world where magic is forbidden by both nobles and priests, two secret societies struggle for change. In the Empire of Thrall, the militaristic Order controls their young king, using magic fed by the life-force of sacrificed victims. The Sisterhood of Laesan, a group of high-born women with natural magic abilities, deplores blood magic. They secretly marry into aristocratic families, hoping to strengthen magic genes and create greater human acceptance of magic.

The Griffin Confederation, where the Sisterhood has long sought to increase their influence, is in desperate trouble. High Lord Aidan Biel's army has failed to recapture Pinixer, a gold-laden mountain province recently invaded by the neighboring Thrall. This failure leads his nobles to question Aidan's leadership, and rival Lord Dorsy begins plotting to replace him.

A small faction of the defeated native Jamari race, who saw their plans to retake their occupied homelands from the humans fall apart centuries before, have renewed hope for success. They had planned to transport hordes of merciless warrior Vigilants into the human cities through enchanted Gate Mirrors, but the mirrors were stolen ages ago. Only one mirror is needed to renew their ancient plans, and it has finally been found. Certain of their members had feared the unleashed Vigilants would eventually turn on the Jamari, however, so they taught human mages how to create a powerful artifact called the Riven Blade. The ceremonial blade, created in two parts of which one was lost long ago, grants the wielder incredible powers of persuasion and leadership but is secretly cursed to inspire jealousy and suspicion from one's allies. The lost half of the Blade has now been found by a fool-hardy giant, and a deadly struggle begins to control it.

Six unique characters will determine the ultimate outcome of the struggle in book one. BRIA, a resilient young orphan who challenges the perceptions of a woman's "place" and embarks on a perilous journey of self-determination that will place her in the middle of the battle to save her race; MARHOUST, a skilled knight whose one poor decision results in banishment from the dangerous world of knightly combat and thrusts him into the even more dangerous world of political intrigue; BARON FRALEN, commander of the Thrall army in Pinixer, whose unsurpassed reputation for battlefield success does not stop a merciless adversary from questioning his loyalty and threatening all that he loves; LADY DEIDRE, Aidan's councilor and sister-by-marriage, who desperately tries to save the Confederation while furthering the Sisterhood's agenda; VISICUS, Order apprentice in the dark art of blood magic, who harbors an insatiable thirst for power; and KILIAN, a reclusive Jamari mystic whose frightening dream-visions lead him into reluctant cooperation with humans.

In a world where the most obvious threat is rarely the greatest danger, survival will require both skill and luck