Shadow Blessed

Rsiran is a disappointment to his family, gifted with the ability to Slide. It is a dark magic, one where he can transport himself wherever he wants, but using it will only turn him into the thief his father fears. Forbidden from Sliding, he's apprenticed under his father as a blacksmith where lorcith, a rare, precious metal with arcane properties, calls to him, seducing him into forming forbidden blades. When discovered, he's banished, sentenced indefinitely to the mines of Ilphaesn Mountain.

Lusam grew up in the relative safety of the Elveen mountains with his grandmother. She taught him the basics of magic and discovered, quite by accident, that he possessed a unique skill never seen before: the ability to hide his magical aura from the mage-sight of others. Dark secrets surround Lusam's origins, and the dark agents of the Empire will stop at nothing to kill Lusam.

Mankind has lorded over the land of Illian for a thousand years, enjoying what was left to them by the elves, as if it were their birthright. A thousand years is a long time for an immortal race to see the error of their ways and realize a truth that has remained unsaid for a millennia - elves are superior! They are faster, stronger, and connected to the magical world in a way that man could never grasp. Illian is their birthright. The six kingdoms of man are fractured, unallied and always clawing at each other's doors for more power.

Jasn, a warrior known as the Wrecker of Rens, seeks vengeance for the loss of his beloved to the deadly draasin during the Endless War, wanting nothing more than to sacrifice himself in the process. When an old friend offers a dangerous chance for him to finally succeed, the key to understanding what he finds requires him to abandon all that he believes. Ciara, a water seeker of Rens living on the edge of the arid waste, longs for the strength to help her people.

Theirs is a world of opposites. The privileged live in sky manors held aloft by a secretive magic known only as the Mysteries. Below, the earthbound poor are forced into factory work to maintain the engine of commerce. Only the wealthy can afford to learn the Mysteries, and they use their knowledge to further lock their hold on society. Cettie Pratt is a waif doomed to the world below, until an admiral attempts to adopt her. But in her new home in the clouds, not everyone treats her as one of the family.

Fletcher is nothing more than a humble blacksmith's apprentice when a chance encounter leads to the discovery that he has the ability to summon demons from another world. Chased from his village for a crime he did not commit, he must travel with his demon to the Vocans Academy, where the gifted are trained in the art of summoning. The academy will put Fletcher through a gauntlet of grueling lessons, training him as a battlemage to fight in the Hominum Empire's war against the savage orcs.

An ancient artifact that must be found... Terrifying creatures from dark and dangerous Incendin... And long-forgotten elementals again unleashed on the world. As an earth senser, Tan is tasked with helping guide the king's servant through the dangerous mountain passes in search of the artifact before Incendin can reach it first. But after losing his father to the war, Tan wants nothing to do with the king's demands.

Before she befriended a frightened young boy in the palace of Kingfountain, Ankarette Tryneowy grew up during the shattering civil war that raged between members of the Argentine family. This is the story of how the only daughter of a lawyer and a midwife became the famed Queen's Poisoner.

Something has always been missing from my life. A hole that I could never seem to fill. When I accidentally turn a coven of witches into nightmares, I find out what that something is. Magic. And it turns out, I have a crap load of it. As a latent power awakens deep inside of me, I'm exposed to one of the most powerful and corrupt organizations in the magical world - the Mages' Guild. Barely knowing a spell from a few swear words and luck, I won't be able to evade them alone. And that's when I meet him.

Powers are determined by geographic birth locations, and only the rich and powerful are permitted access to prized sites. SC is the first person born in space. The punishment for unauthorized births is death. Out of fear, SC keeps his strange abilities as his darkest secret. But when his mother is kidnapped by an unknown organization, SC has no choice but to act.

At the Convent of Sweet Mercy, young girls are raised to be killers. In a few the old bloods show, gifting talents rarely seen since the tribes beached their ships on Abeth. Sweet Mercy hones its novices' skills to deadly effect: it takes 10 years to educate a Red Sister in the ways of blade and fist. But even the mistresses of sword and shadow don't truly understand what they have purchased when Nona Grey is brought to their halls as a bloodstained child of eight, falsely accused of murder - guilty of worse.

They are the fatemarked. Misunderstood. Worshipped. Hated. Murdered at birth. Their time to step into the light has come. An ancient prophecy foretold their coming, the chosen few who will bring peace to a land embroiled in a century of mistrust and war. When kings start dying, that hope and belief swiftly turns to fear. Roan Loren is one of the fatemarked, but has hidden his mark of power his entire life, fearing the damage it might cause to those around him. A great evil is coming. He can't hide anymore.

Raised and trained in seclusion at a secret fortress on the edge of the northern wilds of the Kingdom of Ashai, a young warrior called Rezkin is unexpectedly thrust into the outworld when a terrible battle destroys all that he knows. With no understanding of his life’s purpose and armed with masterful weapons mysteriously bestowed upon him by a dead king, Rezkin must travel across Ashai to find the one man who may hold the clues to his very existence.

Layla Cassidy has always wanted a normal life, and the chance to put her father's brutal legacy behind her. And in her final year of university she's finally found it. Or so she thinks. But when Layla accidentally activates an ancient scroll, she is bestowed with an incredible, inhuman power. She plunges into a dangerous new world, full of mythical creatures and menace - all while a group of fanatics will stop at nothing to turn her abilities to their cause.

In the first installment of the A Fire Beneath the Skin trilogy, the city of Klaar has never fallen. No enemy has ever made it across the Long Bridge or penetrated the city's mighty walls. Even when a powerful invading army shows up at the gates, the duke and his daughter, Rina Veraiin, are certain that it poses little threat. But they are cruelly betrayed from within and, in a horrific spasm of violence, the city is brought to its knees.