The roots of the Eternal Trees hold the world together. So say the Believers. But Lord Yoad, a wealthy and powerful timber baron, plans to harvest them. Chaff, an orphan stableboy, receives Awareness magik - the ability to manipulate LifeForce Particles - on his ten-and-six birthday. He vows to find his beloved Lady Meave, Lord Yoad's wife, who has disappeared, and struggles to control his magik while he searches for her and for his true identity.
When Lord Yoad's men fell an Eternal Tree, and the world begins to crumble, Chaff must use his magik to stop the LifeForce Particles from moving. Only he can save his true love and all the people of Prand.
When his father is killed by an erupting firehill, Kelber vows to put an end to the devastation they cause. They only one with enough power to do this is Orland's First Loyal, its connection to the Eternal One, and a possessor of great magik. But the First Loyal has been missing for two years. Kelber and his brother Trendarmon nearly die as they cross the sea to ask advice from Prand's First Loyal, who sends Chaff and Haehli, Second Loyals of Prand, to assist Kelber in his quest.
When Kelber and his companions ascertain how Orland's First Loyal has been imprisoned, they set about trying to free him. Surrounded by erupting firehills, the Loyals fight the Non - the antithesis of the Eternal One - in a tremendous battle between good and evil.
Chaff and his companions sail to Fala and find the snowy island inhabited by two warring tribes. One of the tribesmen, Braeth, is an exile from Prand, whose only desire is to prevent his twelve-year old grandson Vachel from becoming a warrior. When Vachel captures a young member of the rival tribe, Braeth fears it will encourage the boy’s warrior ambitions. While Chaff and the Loyals use their magiks to discover the source of the island’s wicked conflicts, Braeth struggles with his own identity, hoping it will save Vachel. But the Non will do everything in his power to prevent the success of either plan.
When Gage’s parents are slaughtered by three extremist followers of a usurper ruler, Gage vows to find them and kill them. But he is SpiritKin, and the majority Solith race has banished the passive minority SpiritKin to a small peninsula.
All SpiritKin can set fires with their minds, and can influence the behavior of birds and animals, but Gage is more proficient than most. Further, he keeps secret his special ability to read Lights (auras). When the rightful king of Nighland asks the SpiritKin for help in regaining his kingdom, Gage offers his skills. While he never loses sight of his goal to avenge his parents’ deaths, he fights battles for king and country. And for his identity and its bearing on his one true love.
How can twelve-year-old Dan Graham learn to accept a birthday present he didn’t want? Especially when that present is a skinny, sorrel mare named Ginger? The horseshoes Dan creates so she can do “special” jobs don’t always bring the desired results. Add to his problems being taunted by eighth-graders and befriending a Chinese boy whom no one else likes. Then he notices that his widower father is showing interest in the new school teacher. As if anyone could replace Dan’s mother!
In 1900 Puget Sound country, Dan helps sandbag a flooding river, search for a lost child, and rescue snow-trapped cattle. But the scariest thing he’s ever done is ask Ginger to pull a cart across a frozen river, on a mercy mission to save a dying man. When the ice begins to crack, Dan learns the value of trust between him and Ginger Gold.
Horrified? Mystified? You will be … with this collection of 28 horror and mystery stories from the masters of the macabre!
Get chills and thrills from Nick Aires, Nick Andreychuk, June Avila, Michele R. Bardsley, Margaret L. Carter, Lawrence Crossett, Frances Evlin, Sharon K. Garner, Robert L. Hecker, Linda Hope Lee, Carrie S. Masek, L. B. Milano, Carolyn Russell, Terry Sheils, Eolake Stobblehouse, Jeff Strand, and C. J. Winters.
Take mind-blowing trips with 29 tales from Nick Aires, Kenneth E. Baker, Linda Bleser, Loren W. Cooper, Elaine Corvidae, Sandy Cummins, Julie D'Arcy, Frances Evlin, Chris Grover, J. Brian Jones, Jackie Kramer, S. Joan Popek, Nora Santella, Rie Sheridan, Eolake Stobblehouse, Kathryn Sullivan, Vicki M. Taylor, Jane Toombs, and C. J. Winters.
Frances has loved fantasy since she read Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea at age twelve. After writing in other genres, mainly paranormal, she renewed her relationship with created worlds. Words and their origins are of great interest to her, and she enjoys tweaking the language to make it hers in her traditional, medieval fantasy novels. “Trees, which play a large part in my novels, are my second love. This began in my childhood, when as soon as I could reach the limbs, I climbed Cottonwoods, and perched on their limbs to view my kingdom. Since then, I have followed mountain paths to collect the 16-inch cones of the Oregon Sugar Pines, and have walked among the 4000-year old Bristlecone Pines, the Giant Sequoia and the Redwoods of California. Each autumn finds me crossing the mountain pass to view again the brilliant golden leaves of the Quaking Aspen, and the vibrant scarlet of the Vine Maple. My home is surrounded by twelve Western Redcedars, and I am content in their good company.” Her short stories have appeared in literary magazines such as Anterior Fiction Quarterly, Lighthouse, and Vintage Northwest, and in the children’s magazine Cricket. Online, her short stories have appeared in Timewinder, Twilight Times, and The Royal Scribe.
In 1099, the magical island of Lyonesse, once King Arthur’s retreat, is still a land of superstitions, secrets and destinies. A spirit prophet appears to Tamsin, a discontented freewoman, and says she has ten days to save the life of young Prince Aneurin, the reincarnation of the fabled king.
With the help of a sweet-natured peasant lad, an exciting Cornishman, and a personable white mule, Tamsin inveigles her way into the castle. But Aneurin, who still mourns his mother and resents his look-alike companion, is hostile toward her. Selwich, the royal advisor, lusts after her. The king zealously protects the island’s saffron crop, and when Selwich learns why, he plots to kill the king and the prince.
When the prophet reappears to tell Tamsin about the accident in which the prince will die, the task takes on new dimensions and she must call upon all her resources—human, animal and spiritual—to overcome them.
