Valashu Elahad rescued the Lightstone from the dark hell of the enemy's own city, only to have his triumph overturned. Once more the Lord of Lies has the sacred gem in his possession and its power is invincible. Val burns with shame. Treachery surrounds him. His only hope is the Black Jade that lies buried in the heart of a cursed and blighted forest, forgotten since the War of the Stone. Through this, the greatest black gelstei ever created, Val will seek to understand the darkness inside...

A variation on the Arthurian legend, opening as Arthur is mortally wounded in a battle during which he kills his turncoat son Medraut. Near death, Arthur bids the knight Bedwyr to cast the magical sword, Caliburn, into a lake, but Bedwyr disobeys and hides it in a tree. Returning to the British Isles 11 years later from a stint in Rome, Bedwyr meets Arthur's grandson--evil Medraut's only surviving son--Irion. Although Irion begs Bedwyr to help the Britons in their lethal rivalry with...

To Theophile Escargot, it did not seem right to be run out of Twombly Town for stealing his own pie. And so he began his journey to fabled Balumnia, where he would discover magical powers that could make him a hero--and unearth legendary secrets!

The worst fact about the mess they were in was Kestrel knew it was his own fault. He shouldn't have tried to trick the sorceress Phoebe with a load of worthless wood, or compounded the error by trying to trick the other wizards of their gold. So they were being pursued by eleven angry wizard and uncounted imps, but even so it wasn't fair.