Sure to delight fans of The Ranger’s Apprentice and The Summoner series, this fast action fantasy is shot through with intriguing characters and dark magic.
In an alternate Anglo-Saxon Britain, fifteen-year-old Will Foundling trains his heart out to be accepted into the shield wall. However, he is an orphan and an outsider and is constantly bullied by the hulking Angalsax apprentices. Then, the savage Pict tribes inexplicably unite and smash through the ancient Romani Wall and Will has his chance to shine. His beloved warrior princess chooses him to join her quest to warn the capital and a deadly race begins.
Pursued by ferocious, woad-painted warriors and terrifying, druid-twisted creatures, Will also has to survive escalating clashes with the Princess’ jealous guards. With only Bridget, a sassy battle-runner, to watch his back, Will finally discovers why the Picts have invaded. Reaper magic has returned to the world and armies of the dead are swarming down from the north. Worse still, on his first contact with the forbidden magic, Will finds he instinctively grasps how it works.
Can Will survive brutal warrior races, terrifying monsters and the rising dead long enough to control and hide the dark power stirring within him?