Karigan G'ladheon was a regular girl until she stumbled across a dying man. There were two arrows embedded in his back, and wherever his horse was taking him, he was going to die before they got there.
He gave Karigan his horse, his cloak and his brooch - the symbol that he was one of the King's Green Riders - and, with them, his mission. To deliver a message to the King. He made her swear to do it ... even though the Shadow Man who killed him would be hot on her trail. That mission made her a Green Rider.
Now, her first legendary mission is long complete. Karigan has learnt to wield the magic her Green Rider brooch allows her to access, and she's used it to defy some of the most terrifying dark magicians of the age. But while Mornhavon the Black has gone, he's not defeated. His restless spirit haunts Blackveil, the lethal, corrupt forest that stands beyond a failing magical wall at the edge of King Zachary's territory. Karigan's destiny is leading her there, and when her King asks her to join a mission to Blackveil to save the remnants of a dying race, it seems she has little choice but to follow it ...
Mornhavon the Black, heir to the Arcosian Empire, has fallen. He was defeated in battle and imprisoned in Blackveil Forest, which was in turn sealed away behind the impenetrable, magical D'Yer Wall. But he had fallen long before then as well: to madness, and to dark and desperate magics which twisted his soul and rendered him immortal.
Karigan G'ladheon ventured into Blackveil once on a mission which transported Mornhavon into the future, buying herself and her friends time to shore up the failing magics of the D'Yer Wall. It worked, but it's only a temporary measure, and now the Green Riders must scour the country for clues to protect themselves and Sacoridia from the tainted forest.
But the Sacoridians are not the only ones interested in Blackveil. The Eletians, the immortal race who used to live within the forest, plan to send a small delegation into the heart of Blackveil to determine the fate of their long-lost city Argenthyne. Suspicious of their true intentions, King Zachary insists that an equal number of Sacoridians accompany them . . . and Karigan is a perfect choice for the mission.
The slightest misstep could lead to Karigan's death, and she has no idea if the Eletians can really be trusted. But there's another threat within Blackveil: a small contingent of Arcosian descendents have also entered the forest. They've kept Mornhavon's dark magic alive for centuries, and they're planning to use it to bring Sacoridia to its knees.
www.kristenbritain.com
978 0 575 09965 4
£8.99