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"We gave them a chance once, long ago.... We offered to share power equally, and in peace. But they refused and chose war. With them it was all or nothing. Wizard against Sorceress. Male against female. Light against dark."

It is more than three centuries since the ravages of a devastating war nearly tore apart the kingdom of Eutracia. In its wake, those who masterminded the bloodshed--a quartet of powerful, conquest-hungry Sorceresses--were sentenced to exile, with return all but impossible and death all but inevitable. Now a land of peace and plenty, protected and guided by a council of immortal wizards, Eutracia is about to crown a new king. And as the coronation approaches, the spirit of celebration fills every heart. Except one.

Prince Tristan is a reluctant monarch-to-be. Though born with the "endowed" blood that will give him the power to master magic, and destined by tradition to succeed his father as ruler, he is a rebel soul. And when he discovers the ancient, hidden caves where strange red waters flow--possessed of their own mysterious magic--it only makes him yearn all the more to escape his future of duty... and succumb to the stirrings of enchantment within him.

But more than tradition compels Tristan to ascend the throne. The very existence of Eutracia depends upon it. For after these long centuries of peace, dreadful omens have begun to appear, heralding something too unspeakable to ponder. And if indeed the old evil has returned, hungry to wreak vengeance, Tristan's role in an ages-old prophecy must be fulfilled--or the cost to his kingdom and his people will be beyond imagination.

It will be a battle like none ever known, against an enemy whose thirst for blood and domination is depthless and unyielding. And for Tristan, it will be the ultimate challenge: facing an adversary whose greatest weapon is the person he loves most--transformed into the instrument of his annihilation... and the catalyst that will doom Eutracia forever to darkness.

For three centuries, Eutracia was a kingdom at peace, ruled by a benevolent monarchy and guided by a council of wizards. But a horror from the past, long believed vanquished, returned with devastating fury. And when the battle against the bloodthirsty Sorceresses of the Coven was finally won, victory was not without its price. Now, the royal palace lies in ruins; the king and queen, the royal guard, and the Directorate of Wizards are dead; the land is lawless; and Prince Tristan-- forced by the Coven to murder his father, the King--is a wanted man.

In a cavernous underground labyrinth, once headquarters of the wizards' council, Tristan has taken refuge with his sister, Shailiha, her infant daughter, the wizard Wigg--the lone surviving member of the Directorate--and the crippled wizard Faegan, returned from self-imposed exile in the forest of Shadowood. Together they face the daunting task of restoring order to Eutracia and winning back the allegiance of her subjects. But suddenly, even these challenges pale beside a truly terrifying turn of events. The sacred jewel that is the source of all magic has inexplicably begun to lose its power. Without its age-old enchantment to sustain their spells, the immortal wizards will perish... and magic will vanish from Eutracia forever.

At the same time, a mysterious and ruthless mercenary has declared a bounty upon the head of Prince Tristan. And an army of wizards on a mission to rid Eutracia of monsters created by the Coven has fallen prey to an insidious breed of creatures--beings that can only have sprung from forbidden use of malevolent magic. With time and their powers dwindling, Wigg and Faegan desperately seek to discover who, or what, has succeeded the dead Sorceresses in laying siege to Eutracia. But when the shocking truth is revealed, and an evil that transcends life itself is made known, it is Tristan, more than any other, who will be stunned to his very soul. And it is Tristan who will be thrust into the ultimate battle--for his life, his land,

Tristan and Shailiha are the Chosen Ones, prophesied to unite the opposing magics of the dark Vagaries and the benevolent Vigors. With the destruction of the Gates of Dawn, it seems that the wounded kingdom of Eutracia will at last have the chance to heal--and the Chosen Ones, under the tutelage of wizards Wigg and Faegan, can fulfill their rightful destiny.

Alas, such is not to be. For there is another who unknowingly possesses magic in his blood--great magic that, in the wrong hands, could unleash unspeakable evil. To find this unsuspecting soul, the Chosen Ones and their allies embark on a dangerous quest that will lead from the mysterious Chambers of Penitence to the sacred Isle of Sanctuary. A quest that will change everything Tristan and Shailiha think they know about themselves and their purpose.

But they are not the only ones searching. Krassus, a devoted servant of the Vagaries, has dispatched ships of demonic slavers to scour the coasts of Eutracia, capturing men and women and bringing them in chains across the monster-filled Sea of Whispers to the impregnable island fortress of the Citadel, where evil dreams take the form of living nightmares.

Aided by Tyranny, a pirate as fierce as she is beautiful, Tristan and Shailiha struggle to destroy the wicked demonslaver fleet. Meanwhile, the ill-fated pawn of magic is being held by Krassus at the Citadel. It is there that Krassus seeks to awaken the magic in his blood, imbuing him with dark enchantments from the mystic Scrolls of the Ancients--and transforming him into a weapon of evil such as the world has never known... and will not long survive.

With the demise of his evil half brother, Wulfgar, Prince Tristan restored peace to Eutracia... or so he thought. But the Orb of the Vigors was damaged in the climactic battle, and now the powerful artifact is bleeding magical energy and cutting a swath of death and destruction across the kingdom. Tristan can heal the wounded Orb, but not until his enchanted blood is returned to normal. Only then will the powers of the Vigors be his to command. Unfortunately, the secret of reversing the enchantment is lost.

Even worse, Wulfgar is neither dead nor defeated. Ensconced in his fortress across the Sea of Whispers, Tristan's hideously scarred half brother plots with the Heretics, the otherworldly masters of the Vagaries. With their aid, Wulfgar has grown even stronger in the dark arts. Now, with powerful demonic servants and weapons of dire potency, Wulfgar sets forth to complete the destruction of the Orb... and to avenge himself on the Chosen Ones. Preceding him, he sends a brotherly greeting: a cunning assassin with orders to dispatch Eutracia's ruling council.

Tristan and his trusted allies--the wise wizards Wigg and Faegan, the beautiful pirate Tyranny, and, dearest of all, his beloved Celeste--embark on a desperate quest to cleanse his blood. It is a journey that will lead from the Sea of Whispers to distant Parthalon to the mysterious Well of Forestallments, and it will change everything the Chosen Ones think they know about themselves and their destiny. If they should fail, the Orb will perish, and with it, the Vigors.

As for success, it may prove more costly still....

The defeat and death of the evil Wulfgar should inspire a time of rejoicing throughout Eutracia. But Prince Tristan grieves. Not only is his beloved wife dead, but across the Sea of Whispers, in the island fortress known as the Citadel, Wulfgar's bride, the sorceress Serena, plots to continue her husband's nefarious plans, aided by the Scroll of the Vagaries and the advice of the otherworldly Heretics. Although the ranks of Tristan's faithful soldiers were decimated in recent battle, the prince nevertheless plans a bold surprise attack.

But on the eve of the mission, disaster strikes. From behind the towering azure wall of magical energy in the forbidding face of the massive Tolenka Mountains comes Xanthus, a powerful warrior dispatched by the Heretics to bring Tristan into their mysterious realm. A master of a mystical martial art against which even the great swordsman Tristan is helpless, Xanthus launches a reign of terror against Eutracia's innocent subjects, compelling Tristan to journey behind the azure wall. There, in a magical land as beautiful as it is violent, Tristan will learn the shocking truth about the destiny he and Shailiha, his sister, will share.

In Tristan's absence, Shailiha must lead the fleet of Black Ships against the Citadel, accompanied by the wizards Faegan and Wigg and the beautiful pirate queen Tyranny. But unknown to them, Serena has prepared a deadly trap with hellish creatures summoned by the Heretics. And as Shailiha's troops sail blindly into danger, Serena is preparing a spell unlike anything the world has ever seen--a spell powerful enough to defeat death itself.

On the far side of the impassable Tolenka Mountains, where the countries of Rustannica and Shashida fight an endless War of Attrition, a turning point has come. Vespasian, emperor of Rustannica, is desperate. The relentless battle has left his country battered and the treasury all but empty. Unless he can achieve a breakthrough his armies will crumble and the cause of the Vagaries will go down in abject defeat. But if he gathers all his strength in one daring throw of the dice, Vespasian may yet prevail.

Meanwhile, in Eutracia, the wizards Faegan and Wigg make a startling discovery--a new form of magic that grants its users amazing powers. Among them may be an unforeseen method of crossing the Tolenka Mountains and entering directly into the War of Attrition, tilting the balance in favor of the Vigors... and bringing Tristan into full possession of the mystic endowments in his blood.

But a new threat has surfaced in Eutracia. An ancient Vagaries spell has borne its poisonous fruit: half-human, half-serpent monstrosities who live only to slay and are commanded by a hideously transformed sorcerer-demon known as the Viper Lord.

Now, as Tristan departs on a risky mission to cross into Rustannica and meet his destiny in an apocalyptic confrontation with Vespasian, Shailiha will remain behind to battle the Viper Lord and his murderous horde. Failure is unthinkable. But the cost of victory may be impossibly high.