A magnificent epic of dazzling magic and searing prophecy

From a brilliant new voice in fantasy comes a band of heroes, a world in

peril, and an unforgettable heroine whose unexpected gift of magic awakens

an ancient, slumbering evil.

On a fateful night five centuries ago, three mages made a desperate last

stand, sacrificing everything to preserve the only hope of goodness in the

beautiful, doomed land of Alasea.  Now, on the anniversary of that ominous

night, a girl-child ripens into the heritage of lost power.  But before she

can even comprehend her terrible new gift, the Dark Lord dispatches his

winged monsters to capture her and bring him the embryonic magic she

embodies.

Fleeing the minions of darkness, Elena is swept toward certain doom--and

into the company of unexpected allies.  Aided by a one-armed warrior and a

strange seer, she forms a band of the hunted and the cursed, the outcasts

and the outlaws, to battle the unstoppable forces of evil and rescue a

once-glorious empire...