Book excerpt: Over four hundred years ago, Terrus the Liberator ended the Mage Wars by banishing the mage lords to the island of Lantana. The world was at peace, but that era of peace has ended. Alfor and his rogue mages have seized control of the Northlands of Amica and are bringing about the return of the mage lords. As the world rushes to war, the Amican Alliance is faced with an ever-widening front in the north while Alfor tries to bring the mages of Lantana into the war as his allies. If all of the mages unite against Amica, the world is certainly doomed, but there is a single ray of hope standing in the way of that destruction. The Avenging Shadow wields the Sword of Articus, and he plans to take on Alfor and the mages, even if he must do so alone.