Outskirts Press, INC.

How does a young Half-Elf wind up leading a company of heroes?

Rhiannan is a 17-year-old Half-Elf who spends most of her days with her beautiful Druid mother, quietly tending to the Sacred Grove and mastering the secrets and spells of the forest. “There are things even in Nature that you must protect yourself against, Rhiannan,” her mother often warns, “and there are some things that Nature did not create.” Rhiannan learns of predators and natural balances and of the Gil Chren—a shadowy enemy who kills outside of the balance of predator and prey. Rhiannan’s world comes crashing down around her one night when her Home-Tree and Sacred Grove are destroyed in a fire set by an ominous black rider…and her mother is nowhere to be found. Alone and terrified, Rhiannan flees through the forest that has always protected her, only to find herself at the mercy of strangers. In the space of two days, she saves the life of a Dwarf Prince, catches the eye of an Elf Lord, and finds a Human half-brother she didn’t know she had. They all want to help her find her mother and save her home, but how will she protect them from the Dark that relentlessly pursues her?

Prelude... At the edge of the clearing, standing very close to our burning home, was a large dark shape. It seemed to feel my eyes on it, for it turned a bit toward me. Backlit by the flames, I could pick out only a dark, cloaked figure astride a large black horse. I felt frozen with fear. The horse reared up and spun suddenly to face me. I could see then that the rider was wearing a heavy black helm, and that a dark light glowed from the eye-slit. The horse leapt forward towards me and I backed up a step, and then two, and then I turned and ran. I didn’t have a thought as to where I would go, just that I had to get away. I was running solely on reflex, powered by a mind-numbing fear. I fled through the heaviest growth, instinctively picking out the paths most difficult for a horse to follow. Thorns tore at my clothes and my skin, and twigs and leaves slapped at my face. I don’t know how long I ran before I realized I could no longer hear the crashing of branches behind me that indicated my pursuer. I found myself in a part of the wood that was completely unfamiliar, the trees were shadowed and strange. My clothes were torn and dirty, I was shivering with fear and my heart felt like it was pumping out of my chest. I was crying and exhausted. I could think only to hide for the rest of the night, and to return in the morning to find my mother. I looked around me, noting the myriad of fireflies, and then a much brighter little light stopped suddenly right in front of my nose, and the tiniest of Phoenixes looked back at me. It moved off into the night and came back to hover in front of me. The soft, strong voice of Pared-Dje whispered to me, “Follow his light.” The contact with the god left me both more fearful, and somehow comforted. The little Phoenix started off again and I followed. When I’d gone no more than a few steps in the direction it indicated, it suddenly flew straight up and disappeared. I looked around me and, utterly exhausted, I found a small space under a rhododendron and crawled in. I curled myself into a tight ball around my staff, whimpering a little. I must have fallen asleep at some point, never hearing the branches closing to help hide me from any prying eyes. The forest couldn’t protect me from unknown enemies, and as it turned out, even the god couldn’t keep me from being dragged off.