Book excerpt: On the magnificent and mysterious, beautiful and terrible world of Kregen, a planet orbiting Antares four-hundred light-years from Earth, much may be achieved and much lost. Far more than merely a strong sword arm is required for victory. Far more than a cunning and devious brain is needed to secure success. Having won his princess, Delia of Delphond, Delia of the Blue Mountains, and having become the Emperor of Vallia with Delia at his side as Empress, Dray Prescot has renounced the crown and throne. Any thoughts of a quiet life are foolish, as he well knows. Among the many problems besetting him, the most important are uniting the lands of Paz and beating off the viciously hostile raiders from over the curve of the sea, the feared and hated Shanks. Scorpio Ablaze:Under the twin sun, Antares, the planet Kregen is a world of wonder and terror, of beauty and horror. Now, in the streaming mingled lights of the Suns of Scorpio, Prescot, slave of the Shanks, takes up the Krozair brand to attempt to save his friends who are about to be killed by the vicious Shank lord. Next he must rally the coalition of forces from Vallia, Hamel and Tsungfaril to expel the Shanks from Tarankar. But things rarely go according to plan on Kregen... Scorpio Drums:The forces of Paz have driven off the Shanks and the mysterious Carazaar from the city of Taranjin. People are beginning to call Dray Prescot the Emperor of Emperors, the Emperor of Paz. As he enters the city to assist in the rout of the Shanks and their slaving allies, the whiptailed Katakis, to his horror he sees Delia being carried off by a group of the slavers, galloping off astride zorcas. Frenziedly he charges after them... Scorpio Triumph:Many expeditions have ventured below the City of Eternal Twilight into the Realm of the Drums in search of one of the rubies of the Skantiklar. A Wizard of Loh, Na-Si-Fantong, is collecting the rubies, and it is believed he wants them for no good purpose. He has succeeded in obtaining a ruby and vanishes into the maze of tunnels under the city. Not really convinced of the importance of the Skantiklar, Prescot has to go in pursuit. Alone, he threads his way through the labyrinth, already feeling he will never catch Na-Si-Fantong... This edition includes a glossary to the Lohvian cycle.