Book excerpt: On the day of the Spring Choosing, when the king's army selects its new recruits, Zaide stood ready to answer the call to arms. Instead, he was pulled from the ranks to become a mage's apprentice, despite bearing no magic in his blood. One year later, with Zaide past the age of selection, the scholar's life he never wanted is shattered when his village is razed by the monsters magic should have held at bay. As the Elder's apprentice, his task is clear. He must seek an artifact in the forest's temple and restore the power that protects his home-a power he can never touch alone. But the temple is not what it seems, and his mission is complicated when he encounters a mysterious girl in the forest who bears a quest of her own: claim the same artifact, and destroy the dark forces that threaten her homeland once and for all.