Three Fugitives: Book One of the Six Stones Trilogy

Orren is a thirteen-year-old orphan forced to live in filth and squalor on the cruel Lord Berthus Randolphus's manor. One day, Orren escapes from his hellish circumstances and, as an act of revenge, steals a beautiful blue stone that Lord Berthus treasures.

This act of seemingly petty theft brings about several revelations. First, Orren discovers that Lord Berthus is his half brother. Second, he learns that the stone he pilfered is a magical 'gwell', one of only six of its kind in the world, the whereabouts of which are unknown. Third, Lord Berthus wants all six gwellen because, as it turns out, he has the ability to use their magic--this rare ability is inherited from his ancestors--and it's an ability Orren shares.

Lord Berthus, enraged by the theft, sets off with a ruthless army to find Orren, kill him, and retrieve the gwell before embarking on a quest for the other five stones. Upon discovering his half-brother's intentions, Orren resolves to find the six gwellen himself, and to spirit them away so Lord Berthus can't abuse their power and become a despotic tyrant.

Orren acquires two allies who join his quest--a clumsy goblin named Haxel and a blue-blooded heiress named Marett, each one of whom is fleeing a foe. Lord Berthus's allies and supporters, however, are far greater in numbers, organization, and power. Besides for them, Orren and his friends must face a brutal winter in the wilds, as well as beasts, bandits, peasant uprisings, and a cult with a sinister reputation. It soon becomes clear that for Orren, Haxel, and Marett to have any hope, it will take courage, loyalty, commitment to friendship, and keen wit...and Lord Berthus's chase will have to be foiled somehow.

The odds are stacked against Orren and his friends....and things don't look promising for the three fugitives.