Little does he know that his life is about to change. The Empire is at war. The forces of Emperor Rau are struggling against the forces of the King Kastav. Just when it appears that the Empire is getting the upper hand, a new threat emerges from the Kingdom. The Imperial Mage, once thought of as the perfect soldier, is up against a new threat: Royal Priests. These priests are infiltrating and decimating the Imperial forces, seemingly at will. Marko is thrown into the war. He finds himself caught up in the intrigue, politics and violence of this desperate battle. How can a mere child survive in this world? Marko discovers a latent talent that few possess. He has magic! But is there enough time for him to learn it in order to survive and protect his friends?

    No one knows it better than Taimin. Crippled, and with only his indomitable aunt to protect him, Taimin must learn to survive in a world scorched by two suns and frequented by raiders.But when Taimin discovers his homestead ransacked and his aunt killed, he sets off with one mission: to seek revenge against those who stole everything. With nowhere to call home, his hunt soon takes a turn when he meets a mystic, Selena, who convinces him to join her search for the fabled white city. Taimin and Selena both need refuge, and the white city is a place where Taimin may find someone to heal his childhood injury.As they avoid relentless danger, Taimin and Selena attempt to reach the one place that promises salvation. And they can only hope that the city is the haven they need it to be…

    But when Allie meets her new next door neighbor, Mark Duval, he opens her eyes to the hidden world of alchemy.When a recruiter for the Alchemist's Academy comes calling, Allie is more than thrilled to answer. With Mark in tow, she braves this strange new world, hidden by magic and secrets.It doesn't take long to figure out nothing is as it is supposed to be. The art of Alchemy is not taught, but thrown at the students with force and cruelty. Students are pitted against one another in a battle of houses. They fight for dominance, while fear and hatred for each other are used to facilitate their alchemist creations. If you can't cut it, the President of the Academy, Verity, will announce your retirement.Allie and Mark must find a way through the mysteries of alchemy and the academy before they too are retired.

     From USA Today bestselling author, Sarah K. L. Wilson, comes an epic tale of a disabled teen and her beloved dragon. Perfect for lovers of dragon-riding fiction and anyone with a heart for adventure. This omnibus edition contains episodes 11-15 of the popular novella series: Dragon School: Bright Hopes Only Amel knows the truth. Dragon School: Mark of Loyalty Who is the true Chosen One? Dragon School: Dire Quest Can the Dominion find allies? Dragon School: Ancient Allies Does an ancient artifact hold the key to defeating the Ifrit invasion? Dragon School: Pipe of Wings Can Amel turn old friends into new allies? Read the series reviewers are calling "Best Dragon Series on the Market" when you one-click today!

    Towering tall even amongst the atherian, he is the only of his kind to live free in the "civilized" confines of mankind's varied cultures. He has no need of loyalties, his sole affections pledged to the gold crowns that buy his time and skills. Wed to his blades, Raz's only friends are the Moon and Her Stars and the shadows they bring with the night. But Raz was not born to the mercenary's way, to the butchery and battle of day-by-day survival. Raz, like a sword, was hammered from steel and fire and ashy smoke, forged on the ruins of an old life. And Raz knows who he owes this new path to, this carved way of blood and iron. The Monster of Karth, after all, would never forget who gave him that name. And some debts can't be paid in gold...

    An academy military excellence. Deadly secrets await...secrets leading to murder. Everson is brilliant and yet, he feels broken. Cursed with a disability, he dreams of nothing more than being useful. Quinn is bold, defiant, and will do anything to protect her brother. When Everson is sent to an academy of magic and engineering, Quinn joins a military school to remain near him. Hidden danger lurks within the fabled institutions. Quinn becomes embroiled in a struggle she doesn't understand, one with dire consequences as her training shifts from difficult to deadly. Her relentless determination might help her survive. If she only knew whom she could trust. Within the other school, Everson studies a dangerous magic known as Chaos. Unable to wield this magic, he melds it with science, dreaming up inventions to reshape the future. His greatest discovery will change the world...or it could destroy everything.

    A gamer and a bit of a nerd, Sean's philosophy in life has been to keep his head down and get his work done, he doesn't have the time or money for anything more. But when a failed kidnapping attempt leaves him with a gaping hole in his memory, his oldest friend dead, and his mother missing, Sean suddenly finds his whole world turned upside down as he's suddenly thrust into the hidden world of magic and the supernatural. Apparently he's now wanted, dead or alive, by all of the magical societies, though he has no idea why. About the only thing going for him is what his friend did for him just before he died, and the cute track star that lives in the room next to his, that has suddenly taken a very personal interest in his problems. WARNING: “Black Friday” contains explicit sexuality, nudity, violence, bad language, attempted murder, actual murder, self-defense, pro-active self-defense, destruction of private property, arson, tantric magic, polyamory, mayhem, gratuitous sex and violence, littering, jay-walking, firearms, a racist goblin, an honest lawyer, and a kindly old gossip who likes to give cookies to kids.

    The land is full of mystery and intrigue, and Jon wants to explore it all with the dream of one day becoming a sorcerer. But when Jon receives an invite to the castle for training, he starts to believe there has to be a catch.A long time ago, Jon’s father was once a guard near the capital city. Now Jon finds himself back where his father used to work, and he’s beginning to learn why his father had wanted to raise him away from here. He will discover that, along with certain threats to the kingdom, there are also many magical arts to learn. Some seem stronger than others, but all have their use. Jon must come to understand the complexities of sorcery as he uncovers the mysteries and threats to the kingdom. But he also must learn to deal with the other sorcerers who have come to train at the castle at the same time as him...some of whom are hard to trust.

    Many have made the claim, but few have lived to defend it. Timid, weak, and bullied, Wulfric is as unlikely a candidate as there could be. A chance encounter with an ancient and mysterious object awakens a latent gift, and Wulfric’s life changes course. Against a backdrop of war, tragedy, and an enemy whose hatred for him knows no bounds, Wulfric will be forged from a young boy, into the Wolf of the North. This is his tale.

    Now the nobleman, and collector of rare artifacts, has entrusted Bingmei and the skilled team with a treacherous assignment: brave the wilderness’s dangers to retrieve the treasures of a lost palace buried in a glacier valley. But upsetting its tombs has a price.Echion, emperor of the Grave Kingdom, ruler of darkness, Dragon of Night, has long been entombed. Now Bingmei has unwittingly awakened him and is answerable to a legendary prophecy. Destroying the dark lord before he reclaims the kingdoms of the living is her inherited mission. Killing Bingmei before she fulfills it is Echion’s. Thrust unprepared into the role of savior, urged on by a renegade prince, and possessing a magic that is her destiny, Bingmei knows what she must do. But what must she risk to honor her ancestors? Bingmei’s fateful choice is one that neither her friends nor her enemies can foretell, as Echion’s dark war for control unfolds.

    It was the enlightenment that lifted humanity from the squalor of superstition, and the worship of fell spirits and capricious gods, but those days are gone. The shining glory of the sorcerers burned away the subtlety of wisdom, replacing it with easy power, held only in the hands of the elite—a new age built upon the elemental supremacy of aristocrats and the ignorance of the masses.But this will change, for the greatest power comes with knowledge, and the deeper teachings of wizardry have not been utterly lost. The last wizard of the old tradition still survives in solitude, nursing tired grudges and waiting for death.His passing might have gone unnoticed, but for the imposition of a youth too stubborn to accept his refusal to take an apprentice. With a new student comes new hope, and that hope has caused old powers to stir again. That the world will change is inevitable, but the shape of the future is anything but certain.

    Adamant in proving that his kind belongs, he aspires to someday reach the title of All Powerful Mage—a task, he learns, much easier said than done. With hundreds of students itching to take him down, instructors baring a fanatical intent to fail him, and an unfolding mystery behind the relic created by a shroud of a man, known as Benjamin Caster, does Wesley stand a chance at passing the final exams? He certainly hopes so... ...and the rest of the world depends on it.

    A Quest for Heroes revolves around the epic coming of age story of one special boy, a 14 year old from a small village on the outskirts of the Kingdom of the Ring. The youngest of four, the least favorite of his father, hated by his brothers, Thorgrin senses he is different from the others. He dreams of becoming a great warrior, of joining the King’s men and protecting the Ring from the hordes of creatures on the other side of the Canyon. When he comes of age and is forbidden by his father to try out for the King’s Legion, he refuses to take no for an answer: he journeys out on his own, determined to force his way into King’s Court and be taken seriously. But King’s Court is rife with its own family dramas, power struggles, ambitions, jealousy, violence and betrayal. King MacGil must choose an heir from amongst his children, and the ancient Dynasty Sword, the source of all their power, still sits untouched, waiting for the chosen one to arrive. Thorgrin arrives as an outsider and battles to be accepted, and to join the King’s Legion. Thorgrin comes to learn he has mysterious powers he does not understand, that he has a special gift, and a special destiny. Against all odds he falls in love with the king’s daughter, and as their forbidden relationship blossoms, he discovers he has powerful rivals. As he struggles to make sense of his powers, the king’s sorcerer takes him under his wing and tells him of a mother he never knew, in a land far away, beyond the Canyon, beyond even the land of the Dragons. Before Thorgrin can venture out and become the warrior he yearns to be, he must complete his training. But this may be cut short, as he finds himself propelled into the center of royal plots and counterplots, ones that may threaten his love and bring him down—and the entire kingdom with him. With its sophisticated world-building and characterization, A Quest for Heroes is an epic tale of friends and lovers, of rivals and suitors, of knights and dragons, of intrigues and political machinations, of coming of age, of broken hearts, of deception, ambition and betrayal. It is a tale of honor and courage, of fate and destiny, of sorcery. It is a fantasy that brings us into a world we will never forget, and which will appeal to all ages and genders. It is 82,000 words.

    He can barely cast any spells at all, and those he does cast tend to fail explosively. If that wasn't bad enough, he's also managed to attract the ire of the most promising student of his year- who also happens to be the nephew of a king. Hugh has no friends, no talent, and definitely doesn't expect a mage to choose him as an apprentice at all during the upcoming Choosing. When a very unusual mage does choose him as apprentice, however, his life starts to take a sharp turn for the better. Now all he has to worry about is the final test for the first years- being sent into the terrifying labyrinth below Skyhold.

    The first of three. And today I will pay the price for my siblings' lives by surrendering control of my own. I will step through the runegate, and I will never see my family again.What the others do with the firstborn is shrouded in mystery. All anyone knows is they are never heard from again.I will step through the runegate willingly.But I can keep secrets too. And I'll do whatever it takes to bring the others to their knees...