Book excerpt: The Queen is dead. Her country blames the very man who swore to protect her at all costs, the Queen’s Champion. The hate from the people of Ithendar is pushing this Champion deeper into an inescapable darkness as he slowly becomes the very thing he’s accused of being. With trolls, mercenaries, and political conspiracies all trying to smother the light, a spirited girl escapes her doomed village to find this missing Champion. She believes he’s the only one who can save her village from its fate, but not as the thug he’s become. Though saving her village from its impending destruction weighs heavy on her heart, she first makes it her mission to save this Champion from himself. Unfortunately for Elidria, there are powerful forces who don’t want to see the return of the Champion and make her plans seem impossible. A long sword and her innocence are her weapons-of-choice as she battles both the physical and the emotional.