Shadow of the Demon

Events are coming to a head. The battle for CarCamel has ended and Kaplyn is seen as the people's saviour. Catriona, the Thracian Queen, demands that he leads the army in its fight against Trosgarth, with a dragon at his command. Kaplyn, however, has other ideas. Dragons terrify him, but he cannot fathom why; after all a dragon helped them to defeat demons in the recent conflict. It is a conundrum, but it is not his immediate concern for Astalus, the Thracian court wizard, using magic, reveals an image of Vastra, now an old man, held captive in Aldrace. Kaplyn's fears are realised, for if the enemy have Vastra then they must also have the second crystal from the Tree of Life. A permanent gateway to the demon world is now a reality. Kaplyn's priority must be to recover the crystal at all costs. Abandoning the army, he sets of in pursuit of Vastra, not realising the terrible consequences of his actions, for the full horror of his links to Shastlan's shade are about to be revealed.
Prophecy of the Kings is a Gold Award Winner on Readersfavorite.com 2010 and was Book of the Month SFBooks.com.