When humans arrived on Maras Mantia, home of dwarves, elves, and all the other old races, they raped the land of its soul and magic. And, now the Orcs, whom Earthlings hunted down and slaughtered like beasts of the field, may be the chosen creatures destined to win peace for all...

A blistering sequel to the acclaimed Bodyguard of Lightning takes you into a world full of wonder, magic, and encroaching dark. In the land of Maras Dantias, peace once reigned. Then the humans came, wreaking destruction, killing the enchantment, and bringing war. Even the climate changed, with once-warm summers now autumnal. Of all the races in Maras Dantias, the Orcs, led by Stryke, were the most ferocious. Now, he and his troops have become renegades, chased by his own people as well as the humans. Only a long-lost relic can save them now—and the rest of Maras Dantias, too. But, time is running out and a new foe endangers them all. "Excellent fantasy with a twist.an all action adventurer."—SFX "Nicholls tells his tale briskly and entertainingly."—Starburst ".brilliantly re-invents the Orcs, underdogs of fantasy fiction."—Starlog "Demonstrates a truly coruscating imagination in its outrageous narrative."—Publishing News, Books of the Year

The third volume in Nicholls' critically acclaimed fantasy finds Maras Dantia drowning in war. Stryke, head of the renegade orcs, and his warband have found the long-lost relic they need—but still do not know how to use it. And, while they try to figure it out, enemies hunt them from every corner. Worse yet, the three sisters are close to forming an alliance that will overturn history. Time is running out to save the world. Nicholls' masterworks are the first to tell the story from the other side—from the point of view of the orcs, the villains of Lord of the Rings.

Combining the acclaimed trilogy of books, Bodyguard of Lightning, Legion of Thunder, and Warriors of the Tempest, plus a new short story previously only available in a small press anthology, this is the entire story of Stryke and his band of Orcs. Fantasy's bad guys finally get their own say in this fast moving, action-packed, tongue-in-cheek tale of Orc valour and human treachery.