Books published by Barham Ink

In artificial night she waits, alone, fears mounting as the brittle sounds of vermin scratch and scrabble through the walls. He’ll return soon, but he will bring no light. And hope? It’s been days since there was any of that. They want to know what she knows, about the Tear, about the fragments, about her father. They’ll shout, they’ll threaten, deprive her of food and sleep, but they’d surely never use the twisted tools glimpsed in passing candle flame. Not here.In the Tolarenz town hall, Askon thinks of nothing but the woman in the vision. His city is not itself. He is not himself. After seeing her, after using the fragments of Alora’s Tear to peer into the frozen caldera where his people entered the world, Askon knows he must go. He must brave the bitter cold and trackless snow in search of Dalkaldur.Líana and Edward, Thomas and Elise, John of Dalstone, all will be tested. Follow or stay? And if they follow, to what end? Death in icy desolation is as likely as success. And if they succeed—if they find Dalkaldur and the woman whose circlet reads “Alora”— they must then answer the most unsettling question: how did she come to possess the fragments? With Askon in the lead, and a new threat appearing across the land of Vladvir, there is only one way to be certain. They must find her.

There is no magic in the kingdom of Vladvir...Tucked away in a quiet valley, the community of Tolarenz offers a refuge and safe haven for its people, keeping persecution at bay. One young citizen-Askon son of Teral-is destined to lead them, but first he must leave them behind: one final mission, in service of the king.In the north, leering nightmare creatures known as the Norill gather. Their armor is bone and skin; their weapons are black and crude and cold. They strike in the night, allies to the darkness. It is to them Askon marches, his men a bulwark against the threat.For there is no magic in Vladvir.What Askon finds when he arrives seems impossible: smoke and fire, death and defeat, and all around a suffocating sense of dread. The Norill seek something they call "Stone of Mountain," but in the half-remembered stories from Askon's childhood, it was always "Alora's Tear," a gem with powers great and terrible. A gem that cannot exist.Unless there is magic in Vladvir...