Shadows of the Abyss

[Sequel to Light of the Heavens] (Posting to RoyalRoad)

The Phoenix Queen died in the ashes of her birth, they say, and all traces of her life remain a mystery lost under cover of darkness. Empires shift on their thrones, eagerly watching for advantage. In the north, Miroslav the Wise has sent soldiers and blood mages to breach an ancient bastion of magic known to most as the Vale of the Undying. They assemble like pieces on a wizard's chess board, but little do they know that there hides in the stillness of elven woods an echo of a wrath that almost destroyed the world.

The exarchs are moving, reinvigorated by the recovery of a devoted servant, one whose soul swims in the Devouring Dark. To walk along those shadowed, maze-like forest paths is madness or worse. The powers within have shaken off the stupor of ages and lay in wait for the brave and the brilliant, for the fools and false-hearted.

For a fire-speaker chasing a lost spark of love, an orc warrior facing his past, a mage hand-picked by the Wise, and her two devoted spellguards, the pressure is on to save what they love before the icy maw of Winter can rob them of everything.

**Trigger-warning for abuse.**