Ash's world is about to be turned upside down, and it has nothing to do with the giant snarling dragon he's about to face. Everything in his life is about to change after a chance encounter with Euan, a devilishly whimsical and wise young boy. Raised to be king, a prince with a warrior's heart, Ash begins a quest, much like those mentioned in the tales told to him as a boy. A quest that will reveal a much darker twist on his seemingly privileged life. Ash's loyalty to friends, family, and a new lover will be questioned as he learns that a foreign army has infiltrated his father's kingdom.

A good-hearted young prince learns that much of his life has been a lie. Battling a fire-breathing dragon to save his people from starvation sets into motion a chance meeting with a mysterious boy, who has a penchant for appearing out of no where and dispensing wisdom far beyond what would be expect from one so young, and a young female thief who stole the robes of an Emerald Sister in her journey North. Betrayed by his child-hood friend Marric, Ash struggles to survive against a battalion of Hylaen soldiers, and prevent a coup of his father, King Alric's kingdom of Larutte in the northern expanse of Daelia, a father who may in many ways be just as bad as the Mad King Caelen of Hylaea to the south.

Anthony Aurisano was born and raised on Long Island, New York. He teaches high school English in Queens, so he thinks of many of his ideas while dodging drivers on the highway each morning. He was raised in a martial arts dojo and secretly wanted to be a superhero. Since he realized that wasn't an option, he decided to write fantastical stories in order to live out and share those dreams with others. He has a husky pup that looks like a white-walker dire wolf. When he is not teaching and molding young minds or creating wondrous tales, he can be found hiking, practicing yoga, lifting really heavy things and putting them down, or jumping onto really tall boxes (still trying to become a superhero, obviously).