A small beggar boy, the most powerful mage in a millennium. A wise cracking baby owl of death. An academy filled with the next rulers of the world and a war in Gaul about to start. You might say trouble is brewing. Rome wasn't built in a day, or so we say. But what if it was, what if powerful forces were at work, and they carried on playing their part throughout its history? Magic, monsters and people who could control them. Power is a game played out with monstrous pieces all across the ancient world and at its very heart was Rome. Despite its power and influence, the city has fallen on hard times, with wars raging across the northern lands, most men have been levied into the legions but it still isn't enough to achieve the total victory the senate want. When Iatus is pulled off the streets and put to the mage's test he knows he's probably going to die. But when he survives his encounter with a powerful demon, he starts down the path of war, murder and the endless pursuit of power.

[ BOOK 1 OF AZITERA: YTHER'S QUEEN ] Consumed by avarice, the four human kingdoms-the Infernal Empire, the Kingdom of Caelum, the Kingdom of Treterra, and the Nayale Archipelago-betrayed their covenant with Yther of Azitera, the race blessed by deities, who protected humans for untold centuries. They slaughtered and defiled the beings that once protected them from storm, famine, poverty, and pestilence without mercy. Betrayed by the humans they protected, the Ytherians were enslaved. Their four queens were caged, chained, and imprisoned to serve as nutrients to the human kingdoms. The once prominent Ytherians were reduced to nothing but servants. As the four kingdoms of the human race prospered for many years since their betrayal, one news staggered them, causing them to tremble in fear and rally their armies to protect and defend their domain: Sollel-the Mistress of Flame, one of Yther's queens-had escaped her prison. Her flames will raze hell, ready to burn the souls of her betrayers. COMPLETED CECELIB | C.C. COVER: ASTRID JAYDEE