The Free Land Chronicles Series

In a world where magic is as common as rain, a dark warlock plots to bring together the U'Narai - twelve spheres of unimaginable magical power that when combined give the one who possesses them all the power in the universe. To stop him a diverse band of characters must come together, throwing aside all differences, and fight to prevent him. Witches and vampires, elves and humans, and everyone in-between must put away old grudges and forget old secrets, and work as one to ensure their free land remains free. Leading their struggle is Emkel, child of three - with the blood of elves, men and witches flowing through his veins. He must look beyond his fear and doubt, and save his world from the man he calls father. The Gathering of the U’Narai is the first book in a series entitled The Free Land Chronicles, and many more magical adventures are promised. So, take my hand, faithful follower, and join me on the path of light as it weaves its way from the chilly land of Erantialle where raven-haired elves keep their secrets, down to the seaport of Galagalas, where mighty sailing ships are born and the magical island of Tirandall shimmers in the far distance. Take my hand and hold tight but when we pass the jagged mountains of Kandar don’t look up for the dark warlock may be watching and his gaze is colder than ice.

Emkel is now King of Finlea, with Anya as his queen and their first child on the way. He must lead his people and care for his new family, but there are evil forces looking his way, and he must protect those he loves without the power of the Keeper to aid him. In Vishtalia, home of the vampires, another, darker, throne and crown is on offer. Master Valiaresa and Legate Davilior are both drawn into the vampiric intrigues. The past is awoken and collides with the approaching future, while in the shadows the darkest of the dark gods plots to escape his prison. The elves are touched by this darkness as the dark god’s handmaiden creeps her way through Finlea, corrupting those thought to be incorruptible. Power is everything in this second instalment of the Free Land Chronicles: who has it, who wants it and who will lose it. For some leaders, thrones are supportive and crowns weigh heavy with duty and responsibility; for others, thrones and crowns cause unquenchable hunger. For vampires hunger is a way of life but as the children of darkness strive to satisfy their desires will the children of light be caught up in their bloody struggles? Elves are no strangers to battle but without the power of the Keeper that battle would prove a difficult and messy one. Every king must prove his worth; every queen too. Who will be found deserving of their title and who will seek to abuse it?

Many years ago Julill Mortag, mother of Jargo, went by another name, Swiftsword. She was a fierce fearless fighter. She fought alongside those who fought for those who hadn’t the power to fight for themselves. She loved and was loved in return. But Swiftsword was a name she could only use at night; a name that set her free but freedom for some is short lived. For Julill comes from a world of duty and responsibility; a world in which those who should have the most power are the ones who are truly powerless. Julill spurns this world and yearns for the freedom a life lived under the name Swiftsword would grant her, but there are dark forces watching over her – forces that have plans for her, have had plans for her since the day she was conceived. Swiftsword is not the name they have chosen for her. Julill struggles to reach for the life she yearns for; the dark forces do their utmost to draw her away from it. Good forces strive to keep them back but in the battle of good versus evil it is not always certain that good will triumph. Book five of the Free Land Chronicles details the life of Julill Mortag, mother of the infamous General Jargo Mortag, from her comfortable upbringing as the eldest daughter of good King Senovar and secretive night existence as Swiftsword, fearless fighter and lover of the gypsy mercenary Valorian, through to her downfall at the hands of weak-willed Lord Karlos Westfallen and eventual exile from her home and hasty marriage to Captain Kamen Mortag. From wilful young girl to the mother of five children; from pampered princess to the wife of a farmer/soldier, Julill is not one to be beaten by life’s vast changes. Her life is no longer what it was but there is still a smouldering fire within her, ambition to be more than she is. If she cannot be Swiftsword she will be something else. If she cannot be free then she will have power. And she will have vengeance.

Everyone has their secrets; from bloodthirsty vampires to graceful elves, from the creator to the dark destroyer, everyone has things they would rather keep hidden but all things hidden have a way of being revealed. Two thousand years have past and things have greatly changed. Anya rules alone; her husband having vanished, as mysteriously as other elves in previous years, and dark forces are running freely across the no longer quite so Free Land. Resigned to battling these forces without the help of her king Anya receives a letter requesting her presence – a letter written in a familiar hand, a letter asking her to come to a place she had never thought to see again, Kandar. A land where evil swirls in the very air and can be tasted even in the water, a land no sane person would step in without good reason, Anya is compelled to go there. She must if she is to discover why she has been forced to spend the last two millennia alone. She must go there and she must go alone. Daughter Jasmine, sharing more than just her raven hair with her father, gives chase, meaning to bring her home or discover where she has gone and why. But there are those who want, and need, Anya to reach her destination, those known as the Secret Ones, and Mistress Alia (a witch who has more than her fair share of secrets) is determined to make sure their wishes are carried out. With the help of mysterious white warriors she blocks Jasmine’s way and ensures Anya’s progress. But the dark forces draw ever nearer. Will Anya reach her destination safely and what will she discover if she does? Are the answers to the questions she has worth her very life? Will discovering secrets give everything meaning or destroy all that she thought she knew and cared for?

She was once known as Swiftsword and then for a time was called The Red Lady but finally Julill’s path has reached its destination and the Dark Queen is awake. Her true aim is revealed and it is death – death for the men of the Free Land, death for those who oppose her, death for those who refuse her hand of friendship. Farina, Queen of Maranea, is in Julill’s sights. She would have this strong young woman as an ally, but Farina fears the madness she hears in the older woman’s words and fears what she would do to her son and only child. She refuses Julill’s hand but no one does that and gets away with it. Jareth, Julill’s second born son, now stands opposed to his mother, at least in theory. He knows she is insane and that she must be stopped and so he travels with the ancient witch, Oluna, to learn how to fight, to become strong and to gather allies of his own. Soon he will need to decide if he is truly willing to put what he has learned into practice, for it is one thing to know that he must act and quite another to take up arms against the only mother he has ever known. Might she not yet, even at this late stage, be turned aside from her dark path? Oluna thinks not but she herself cannot act as it is forbidden for witches to interfere in the lives of the other races. All she can do is advise. Others must come together to move against the Dark Queen. Farina flees south to Tunislaw and distant cousin, King Rilathus to beg his help. Jareth finds unlikely assistance from a band of outlaw vampires and in Finlea Anya ponders her options. The Dark Queen does not yet threaten the elves but sooner or later she must surely move against them? Should Anya move first? Elves do not lightly enter into battle but when they do they are committed to the end. Without Emkel to advise her and share the burden of decision she is stuck. Should she move now to confront Julill or wait for the red-haired queen to come to her? Julill too ponders her options. There are only two enemies she truly fears – the witches and the elves. The witches are powerful but bound by their oaths. They will not move against her, but the elves are a different matter. For all their show of grace and apparent disdain of violence they are skilled warriors and see themselves as duty bound to help those called friend. Will Anya ride to the side of Farina to help her friend? Can Julill best the elven queen? Elves are often more powerful than they look but Julill has power too. More than even Oluna suspects. But does she have enough? Soon she must test her strengths and test the will of those around her. Will her allies remain loyal or prove cowards at the finish? Will the dark forces that have shaped her all her life be enough to help her take charge of the Free Land and shape it to her own desires, or will she discover too late that they too have desires: desires they deem more important than hers. Is this the end of the Dark Queen’s journey or merely the beginning? Book seven of the Free Land Chronicles takes up where The Red Lady left off. Julill is home. The crown she once spurned is now firmly on her head and the power she craved is now hers. Now begins the task of shaping her kingdom to her desires. Her kingdom first and then the rest of the Free Land. And woe to any who think to cross her. Enemies lurk around every corner but Julill knows how to deal with enemies. She has werewolves on her side; werewolves and vampires, a rogue witch and an unseen force that has been with her since the day she was conceived. She is more than a match for anyone and will destroy everyone who stands against her: father, husband, son – none shall be shown mercy.

She was once known as Swiftsword, fearless fighter and lover of the gypsy mercenary Valorian. Her given name is Julill. She was a princess, eldest daughter and heir to a beautiful kingdom. Now she is a soldier’s widow and a mother. But the fierce fighting nature of Swiftsword and the upbringing of a highborn royal still swirl within her. She may have been exiled from her home and denied a crown she thought she did not really want, but a hunger burns within her. For a time it was a hunger for revenge, on the man she held responsible for her being brought low. Revenge proved a short lived satisfaction though. Now Julill desires more. She craves power, strength, to never again be at the mercy of men. The crown she thought she didn’t want has gained new significance in her eyes. As a woman much is denied to her. As a queen there is much she could do. So she begins a slow careful journey back to the kingdom she was exiled from. She makes alliances along the way. Like the elf king she too reaches out a hand to the vampires. Unlike Emkel she does not care if they have not abstained from the drinking of human blood. She wants strong allies; allies who will not blanch when the time comes to take down those Julill deems her enemies. For Julill will not blanch. She has killed before and has no qualms about doing so again. She is no longer Swiftsword, the wilful young girl who ran with mercenaries and killed only to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves. She is now The Red Lady and The Red Lady hungers for blood: the blood of men. They are the cause of all that is rotten in the world and they must be stopped, or at least controlled. As queen she will have the power to do either. The dark forces that are shaping her look on with smiles or satisfaction but good forces still try to sway Julill from her ever darkening path. Powerful witch, Mistress Oluna has her eye on her and desperately tries to make her turn away, to step on to the path of light before it is too late. Torn between loyalty to his mother and the knowledge that she must be stopped, second son, Jareth, agonises over what to do. He knows his mother’s darkest secret. He knows why her heart is full of hate and finds he cannot help but sympathise with her. But he is a man and in the world Julill hopes to create, once that crown is on her head, men will be classed as the enemy. He has seen his mother’s eyes turned on him in thought, assessing him with her cold gaze, wondering whether to class him as enemy or ally. Will he look away and do nothing when her true aims become clear or will he join forces with Oluna and set himself against the mother he so desperately wants to love? Book six of the Free Land Chronicles details Julill’s life from the death of first husband, Kamen Mortag, up to her eventual return home to reclaim her rightful throne. Will The Red Lady be satisfied once that crown is placed upon her brow or will the Dark Queen finally be roused from her restless slumbers? Will Jareth finally accept that Julill will never be the mother he hoped for and dare to go against her or will familial loyalty be the death of him?

Book nine of the Free Land Chronicles begins the story of Valorian: gypsy, mercenary and one time lover of the girl who called herself Swiftsword. His family and home destroyed and left near death he is taken in by a band of mercenaries. He slowly begins putting his life back together, but pain and suffering are not so easily forgotten and fear leads to a desire for vengeance. A desire stoked by the arrival of a fellow gypsy, dark-eyed and secretive Tamus, whose own desire for revenge will not allow Valorian’s to wane. Encouraged by the other boy, Valorian soon finds his hands bathed in blood but is vengeance truly what he wants or is it just peace he seeks; peace and freedom from fear and nightmares? Whatever he wants is irrelevant to Tamus. The gypsy heart is unforgiving and they have a saying “hurt one of us and you hurt us all.” Valorian’s pain is his pain and it cannot be endured. Vengeance will be had. There can be no peace without it. Vengeance will be had and there can be no vengeance without death. Ramius, leader of the mercenaries, seeks to strengthen Valorian and help him move forward with his life, but struggles against Tamus who is determined that Valorian should finish the task they started together. Wicked men should be punished. Every last one of them. Torn between the man he now calls father and the boy he calls friend, Valorian struggles to cope with the tumult of emotions trapped within him. Will he survive and if he does what kind of man will he become: a man capable of loving a princess, a man strong enough to lose her and watch her descend into darkness, a man fearless enough to one day step in to that darkness in the hope of saving her?

Having run south to Tunislaw and her distant cousin, King Rilathus, Farina awaits the arrival of the Dark Queen. Standing with her is Estar Darian, her most trusted captain and a man who embodies great physical strength; Oluna, a witch of unimaginable power; Rilathus, king, cousin and a man living an impossible existence; and Jareth, a man troubled by the knowledge that perhaps the greatest enemy the Free Land will face is his own mother. Each stands waiting for the arrival of Julill and her army – an army that consists of werewolves, pureblood vampires eager to drink the blood of their enemies and scores of vengeful maddened women seeking revenge for the many evils done to them over the years. And hidden unseen amidst their ranks come the shadowlings; creatures of the Underworld, creatures hungry to feed on souls. Confident that this army can defeat any foe Julill rides on determined. But the elves are moving. Queen Anya can no longer stand by and do nothing. A power has been woken within her; a power and a determination to fight the darkness infecting the Free Land. She rides to Tunislaw to assist Farina but will she make it in time? A battle is about to be fought but this is a fight started by a woman and will only be stopped by another. But which one will face the Dark Queen on the field? Farina, the golden-haired queen, has been taught well and is determined to prove herself worthy of her crown and protect her only child and heir. Anya has nothing to prove but feels the call of duty as does every elf. Whose destiny is it to cross swords with Julill in the Dance of Death and who will prove the victor? Book eight of the Free Land Chronicles is a tale of three powerful queens and those who follow them. Each has strength on their side but it takes more than strength to win a fight. Otherworldly forces are at work and each woman has been marked by destiny. Whatever outcome they may wish for may not be the one they get. But each must walk the path they have chosen regardless of where it may lead, even if it leads to death.

Jargo Mortag had had it all. General of the dark warlock’s army, he had power and riches, fame and a purpose to his life. Had Aldar succeeded in his quest to claim the U’Narai Mortag would have been rewarded not just with the leadership of a worldwide army but an army that would have stretched out beyond the galaxy to encompass the entire universe. But all that is gone. The dark warlock is dead, his once loyal followers scattered and Jargo is now a hunted man, wanted for theft and murder. The humans in particular keen to capture him and make him pay for the death of their beautiful queen. Their chase headed by the new queen, thirteen year old Farina, eager to see justice done for both mother and father. On the run and with no friends to help him he turns to family and to the cold-hearted mother whose lack of love and scalding judgement of him drove him from his home so many years ago. They say you can never go home again but Jargo must for he has no choice. Blood may be thicker than water but Julill Mortag is a woman whose dark and secretive ambitions have more power over her than the ties that are meant to bind. Jargo seeks out his family in the hope of finding protection if not comfort but he may find to his cost that a mother may be a more dangerous threat than any dark warlock or avenging daughter. Book four of the Free Land Chronicles takes us back in time to glimpse the life of the dark warlock’s most decorated soldier; the man who almost ended the life of Emkel, and introduces us to Julill – a woman whose destiny may be the ruin of the Free Land.