Magentite. The rarest of gems, one capable of turning any mage into an unstoppable force of destruction. A gem found only in the empty lands surrounding the Tyber River. And now war has come. Endless war between Esteria and the native Tyberons, a savage and mysterious people who prowl the grass-covered land with spearpoints ready. Unable to end the conflict the Esterians rely on mercenaries to bolster their military, desperate men like Dain Gladstone, a disgraced Paladin. Dain dreams of a peaceful life, a quiet home of his own, and he’s willing to fight for it. The Esterians have a new plan to conquer their enemies. A bold expedition to strike into the heart of the Tyberons and Dain finds himself caught at its center. Can his dream survive the River of Spears?

Paladin, Traitor, Outcast, Mercenary…Dain Gladstone has been all of these. From childhood he’s been groomed for battle and trained in the Light. When war came he was branded a traitor and exiled for a treasonous act of mercy. To make his way in the world Dain has sold his skills to the highest bidder. But now he’s grown tired of war, tired of fighting for causes not his own, and he’s got a plan. Galena…rumors fly of a great fortune there, one buried beneath the snow-covered mountains, one vast enough to purchase an entire kingdom. Dain isn’t the only one seeking Galena’s riches. Men and elves and orcs all have plans of their own. Fortune has a way of twisting fate and turning the finest of plans on their heads.

Dain Gladstone has come a long way since his mercenary days. He's settled down and forged a life in the rich lands of Galena. The years have been good to him, Sera, his wife and ruler of the Wood Elves, and their adopted daughter Jin. It hasn't been easy, but among Sera's people they've settled into a watchful and quiet life. Now that way of life is in danger. After biding her time an old enemy returns and this time she has the most powerful of allies, an ancient evil that covets the land of the elves for the near limitless power it contains. This evil hungers for nothing less than total conquest. Surviving the coming nightmare will draw the Gladstone family closer than ever, and in that closeness Dain is forced to confront his past. The betrayal that cost him his life in the Paladin Order, the terrible loss of his home in the Karelian Empire, the deaths of his friends and comrades. In the deepest blackness, the Light shines ever brighter.