Do some choices change us too much for us to ever change back? There was a time when Alaric was a Keeper, one of the men entrusted with counseling the queen, protecting the people’s histories and ancient stories, and working magic in defense of the land. But in a desperate attempt to save his dying wife, he has sacrificed it all—abandoning his duties, betraying his deepest beliefs and falling ever deeper into darkness. So far, he has done nothing but fail, and his wife’s time is growing short. Now, haunted by his past, Alaric has found one last chance at a cure, hidden in a magical Wellstone buried a century ago. With the help of a handful of quirky companions, the stone—and the cure—are finally within his grasp. But he’s not the only one searching for the Wellstone. His quest grows more perilous as he discovers that his companions are harboring dangerous secrets their own. It becomes almost impossible when he unearths rumors of a gathering shadow threatening the land—whispering of the return of a dark lord, thought to be defeated. To face this enemy, and have any chance of saving his wife, Alaric needs to be the Keeper he used to be, not the broken man he has become. Can he put the failures and pain of his past behind him to stand against the approaching threat? Or, in the face of all the growing shadows, will it be the darkness within himself that destroys everything?

-Killien, the unyielding clan chief who’s becoming increasingly volatile. -Sora, the suspicious ranger who sees more than she should. -A swarm of frost goblins that devour with tooth and claw. The list of people and things that could get Will killed keeps growing. While Alaric is in Queensland, searching for Kordan’s Wellstone, Keeper Will is over the mountains in the hostile Roven Sweep, searching for his missing sister. After catching a glimpse of a woman who could be her in a Keeper-hating Roven clan. Will convinces Killien to let him travel north with them to their summer homes. Under the relentless suspicions of Sora, a tenuous friendship grows between Will and Killien, who talks of building peace among the hostile Roven. Except Will’s thin disguise as a storyteller is crumbling quickly and Sora may already know who he is. The more Will gets to know Killien, the more troubling things he learns. Killien’s hatred for Keepers runs deep, and for all his talk of peace, the man’s greatest wish is to control a vicious army. And a dragon. But Will doesn’t know that the chief has taken more from him than just his sister. And Killien controls enough power to gain everything he wants.

Can Sini keep her past from destroying everyone’s future? Sini has finally found a family with the Keepers. After escaping from a childhood on the street and years of slavery, Sini’s new life as a Keeper should be idyllic. But she can’t shake the feeling she just doesn’t belong. Not only because she’s the first female Keeper in centuries. Her magic is too different to be useful. And Lukas, her foster brother who loved and protected her from the worst ravages of slavery, is now being accused of terrible things. When the Keepers are called to the capitol to address this threat, she finds herself once again out of place. As much as Sini doesn’t want to believe it, the evidence is growing that Lukas is amassing an army along the southern border. He’s using his magic to poison the minds of Queensland’s people, and his dragon to spread death and destruction. To save Queensland, Sini teams up with Will and Alaric to enlist the aid of the dwarves. Sini’s magical powers finally begin to stir, but with a frightening intensity. Will Sini learn to control her magic, or will she lose everything to the brother she doesn’t want to fight?

It's astonishing how often love and magic are mistaken for each other. The enemy hordes are approaching, and there's nothing to protect Stone Gap except a black rams horn with powers more legend than reality, and a young woman desperate to save those she loves. The Black Horn is a short story related to the Keeper Chronicles. It is a standalone story and can be read at any time.

The best gifts come from the heart. It's almost Midwinter, and Rass the grass elf doesn't have a gift for Douglon. What can she get the dwarf who gave up everything to come to the elven wood to care for her and forty-six baby tree elves? The only thing she has is her clearing of grass, and that's too much to give up. Isn't it? The Candlelight Gifts is a short story retelling of The Gifts of the Magi, by O. Henry