Andrea Robertson - Cast in Secrets and Shadow

THE NIGHTSHADE SERIES

Rift

Rise

Nightshade

Wolfsbane

Bloodrose

Snakeroot

THE INVENTORS SECRET SAGA

The Inventors Secret

The Conjurers Riddle

The Turncoats Gambit

Invisibility (with David Levithan)

THE LORESMITH SERIES

Forged in Fire and Stars

Prologue

Winning the war left a bitter taste in Captain Lirans mouth. The conquest of Saetlund could hardly be called a war; it had been a rout. Too short and too easy. What forces King Dentroth sent against the invading Vokkans were pitiful, lacking in training and discipline. On the plains of Sola, Saetlunds forces had melted before Lirans advance once the storied Loreknights had fallen.

Foolish tales.

Liran believed in gods; rather, he believed in one god, Vokk the Devourer. Hed seen Vokk with his own eyesa visage he wished with each breath he could forgetand knew it was that god who had kept his father alive all these centuries. People speculated that Fauld the Ever-Living wasnt truly immortal, but Liran knew the truth. For so long as Vokk sustained his father, the emperor would not die.

To Liran, Vokk was all-powerful and terrifying. It was Vokks army that had consumed all the world but this last kingdom, Saetlund.

But Liran did not love his god.

And this war... it was meant to be the last. Saetlund was the final conquest. Liran had been told that the kingdom held this honor due to lore of old, which the captain put no stock in. All that mattered to him was the idea that after Saetlund there was nowhere else to claim, and as far as Liran could see that meant soon the world would starve.

What of the Devourer then? Would Vokk abandon his people and find a new world to consume? Liran worried the god would consume his worshippers before abandoning this realm.

Saetlund claimed to have its own gods, but those same gods were supposedly responsible for the championsso-called LoreknightsLirans foot soldiers had cut down with ease. Theyd been the opposite of legendary: only adequate with their arms (which showed no signs of being magical, as myths claimed) and lacking in honor. Three of the Loreknights had tried to flee when they saw their fellows laid low. Lirans cavalry had run them down in a matter of minutes.

Liran had heard it said that the empire delayed its attack on Saetlund because these knights were nigh invincible. It seemed Emperor Fauld had waited centuries for no good reason. When the Loreknights fell, an audible groan swept through King Dentroths army. Chaos ensued.

Soldiers stopped obeying their officers orders. Their ranks split, faltering. The Vokkan commander seized this advantage by sending his troops through these breaks to flank the enemy. The Vokkan forces so outnumbered Saetlunds that Liran soon had the bulk of the kingdoms army surrounded. After a third of Dentroths soldiers had fallen, the remainder surrendered, opening a path to the capital city of Five Rivers.

The Vokkan army had prepared for a siege. They neednt have. Five Rivers had devolved into frenzied panic. When word spread in the capital that King Dentroth had fled rather than fight, its citizens poured out of the city, attempting to flee and surrendering in droves to the advance troops sent to scout positions.

While the commander managed the hordes of Saetlunders suddenly on their hands, Captain Liran led a contingent of his troops into the city to make their assault on the palace. To Lirans chagrin, his brother Zenar insisted on accompanying them into the city. There was someone in the palace he wanted to capture, someone other than the king. Zenars demand had surprised Liran. Aside from the spells they maintained to fortify Vokkan soldiers, the ArchWizard and his followers didnt trouble themselves with banal events like war, but this time was different.

At the palace gates, they faced the most resistance. Unlike Saetlunds army, the palace guard fought hard, falling back only when forced to, then establishing new defensive positions and fighting on.

Their efforts, though honorable, were futile. Bit by bit their numbers diminished. Lirans forces took the palace with only a few losses, where the palace guard were slaughtered. Lirans targets were the royals, but Zenar begged a portion of his brothers soldiers to hunt down the palace blacksmith. Liran would have refused but for the mad gleam in his brothers eyes. When Zenar became rabid about an issue, Liran knew better than to thwart him. And Zenars strange request was in a way a gift to the captain, because the ArchWizards presence would have posed a problem for the work to come. Liran couldnt have his brother interfering with his plans for the king and queen.