Book excerpt: It has been four hundred years since the Mage Wars ended, and Terrus the Liberator banished the mage lords to the island of Lantana. Since that time, the continent of Amica has been free from their destructive influences, but an archivist fears that sacred vow is being broken, and he is willing to risk his life to stop it. Indeed, he willing to risk all of Lantana to foil the evil plot. Marcus is an apprentice blacksmith in his father's village forge. His ambition is to become the best blacksmith he can, but fate holds a different future for young Marcus of Kor. When a dark stranger appears in the forge with a black, hiltless sword made of an unknown metal, Marcus is propelled on a dangerous adventure that will change the world. Along his path, Marcus will have to deal with a rebel spymaster whose goal is to mold a young captive into a deadly assassin, a cloaked stranger whose focus is on ancient history with an urgency to avoid a feared future, a young warrior woman who befriends everyone yet trusts no one, a noble's son with an eye for archery and a yearning for adventure, a once benevolent king who has mysteriously grown evil and greedy, an elite military group willing to slaughter entire villages to please their masters, and a general who knows that the world has gone awry but feels helpless to change it. Avenging Shadow is a tale of adventure, magic, intrigue, betrayal, and bravery. While it is a story of a young man's struggle for justice, it also a story of friendship and the binding of diverse goals in a gripping saga of daring and hope.