Blackveil

Plot summary

Blackveil Forest was the home of the Eletians, a magical elf-like race. Corrupted and warped into an evil place by Mornhavon the black, the realm is sealed away for centuries behind a great mystical wall. Strange occurrences near its borders are in need of an explanation and a team of explorers are chosen to enter.

Karigan G'ladheon is preparing to leave the relative safety of the castle when King Zachary reveals his true feelings for her. Captain Lauren Mapstone, commander of the kings messenger service, senses a growing bond between the pair. She intervenes, keeping Karigan as busy as possible with rider duties. On the day Karigan departs the city with the party chosen to infiltrate Blackveil Forest, Lauren suggests that the King should go hunting to keep him occupied. He rides through the city with his betrothed, the Lady Estora. However, an assassination attempt is made upon the king's life. Zachary takes a poisoned arrow to the chest, leaving him near death. With the King's life and the state of the kingdom in the balance, a deathbed wedding is arranged.

At the D’yer Wall - the barrier between Blackveil and the rest of Sacoridia - Alton D’yer is desperate to repair the breach but unable to do so. Estral Andovian, daughter of the Golden Guardian, arrives and begins to heal the wall with her singing. Estral helps Dale and Alton gain access to the towers that span the length of the wall, where they can communicate with ancient sage like wizards who witnessed the creation of the wall.

Karigan and her companions enter Blackveil heading for Castle Argenthyne, the ancient home of the Eletians. The Eletians travelling with her reveal that their goal is to rescue the sleeping Eletians who have been trapped in Blackveil, sealed within a pocket of time. Karigan’s rider abilities are needed to cross the layers of the world and time to lead "The Sleepers" to safety in the past.

Descendants of The Second Empire, led by “Grandmother”, a witch of sorts, are headed to Blackveil on the orders of Mornhavon, to awaken "The Sleepers" in the present. "The Sleepers" have been largely protected by the spirit of their Queen, but after their long confinement in the tainted forest, a few of the sleeping Eletians have been corrupted into evil, mindless, dark creatures.

Karigan is once again forced to fight for her life against Mornhavon and a peculiar mirror-masked tumbler who offers her the power to control the strands of the universe. Focused only on denying Mornhavon the thing he desires most, she destroys the mirror mask and tumbles through space and time. She is saved from the endless blackness by the God Westrion, who deposits her in a sealed crypt, in which she is trapped and running out of air.

Mirror Sight, is the next book in the Green Rider series.

Characters