Fantasy needs a new hero. Meet Gallow - Truesword, Griefbringer and trouble for anyone who crosses him. I have been Truesword to my friends, Griefbringer to my enemies. To most of you I am just another Northlander bastard here to take your women and drink your mead, but to those who know me, my name is Gallow. I fought for my king for seven long years. I have served lords and held my shield beside common men. I have fled in defeat and I have tasted victory and I will tell you which is sweeter. Despise me then, for I have slain more of your kin than I can count, though I remember every single face. For my king I will travel to the end of the world. I will find the fabled Crimson Shield so that his legions may carry it to battle, and when Sword and Shield must finally clash, there you will find me. I will not make pacts with devils or bargains with demons for I do not believe in such things, and yet I will see them all around me, in men and in their deeds. Remember me then, for I will not suffer such monsters to live. Even if they are the ones I serve.

Nathan Hawke is the pseudonym of fantasy author Stephen Deas. I fought against your people, and I have fought for them. I have killed, and I have murdered. I betrayed my kin and crippled my king. I led countless warriors to their deaths and fought to save one worthless life. I have stood against monsters and men and I cannot always tell the difference. Fate carried me away from your lands, from the woman and the family I love. Three hellish years but now, finally, I may return. I hope I will find them waiting for me. I hope they will remember me while all others forget. Let my own people believe me dead, lest they hunt me down. Let me return in the dark and in the shadows so no one will know. But hope is rare and fate is cruel. And if I have to, I will fight.

Nathan Hawke is the pseudonym of fantasy author Stephen Deas. The last battle for the fate of your country is coming. My kin are out for blood and revenge. Another empire sees a chance to come in and pick up the pieces of our war. Most of your warriors are stuck hiding in the swamps, always aware that they do not have enough numbers to win a straight fight. And from over the seas, my people bring their most deadly weapons, the Fateguard. Living suits of armour, imbued with mystical and deadly power. The end times have come for your land. I have fought alongside you, I have bled for you, I have made myself a traitor to all I believe in for you. And yet you still do not trust me. But you have no option. This will be our last battle, and there is only one place that it can be fought. We must defend our stronghold, no matter how many lives it may cost, no matter how hard it is. For if we do not, there will be no mercy and no relief from the terrors to come. Good thing I'm on your side.

The fort of Witches' Reach, where the Aulians buried the Eyes of Time, lies firmly under Marroc control - but the Aulians built a second fort on the other side of the river overlooking Issetbridge. The fort is a ruin, having collapsed decades ago but that doesn't mean there aren't secrets buried underneath it. With Gallow already away and Arda and several of Valaric's men about to sneak into Issetbridge to steal a forge, it falls to Achista to accompany Oribas on his expedition to pry into this lost ruin. In hostile territory, hiding from the forkbeards, Oribas and Achista find themselves embroiled in a Marroc uprising against the Lhosir of Issetbridge before Oribas finds a way into the half-collapsed chambers beneath the ruin of Dragon's Reach. Inside he hopes to find Aulian secrets; what he actually finds is something much more dangerous. . .