Of all the mages in the Known World, Huldrych is by far the least respected, because he alone cannot produce black fire. For fourteen long years, the powerful mages did everything they could to turn their apprentice’s white fire to black, until finally they decided to avoid further embarrassment and send him far away. Two years later, still trying to make an uneasy peace with his life in exile, Huldrych receives an unexpected, unexplained request: “Come back at once.” Indignant, he wants to ignore the message but he can’t escape the constant burning tension inside him. Why is he different? Where does he belong? He goes.

Far beyond the Known World, Occida seethes with hatred for the ruling mages. Once an apprentice, she too was discarded, though for entirely different reasons. While she possesses great talent with black fire, she wants more and she wants it now. Occida can’t accept the mages’ slow pace of teaching or their pampered life. Instead, she becomes obsessed with the knowledge hidden in ancient texts. Texts where untold dangers can be found, texts that give her unnatural power. She attacks.

But old books can hold more than just forgotten spells. They might even reveal the secret of white fire.

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