Standing Stone Series

Hate is a powerful motivator. Pain runs a close second. Jahl Pratter dreams of recognition as a master wielder, but the danger of that recognition stalls his rise. When a stranger hires Jahl for a job only a master wielder can perform, it's the perfect first step toward the destiny within his grasp. The purchase of a magic stone is his first obstacle; it only requires coin. But is the attention worth the danger wielding brings to him and his family? The dark magic that summoned a plague which killed nearly every wielder in Chussan Faire appears contained. But those who believe his magic wields will cause a resurge urge Jahl to stop. Jahl still deals with the pain of its first run through the wielder population. If hate spawned a plague, will Jahl's success drive its creator to greater action? Can Jahl hide his wielding behind the secrets of a friend who once abandoned him? Rouen needs him if he hopes to save his family's business. Is that need enough for him to keep the silence that will protect the Pratter family? The girl with the pretty blue eyes and a demanding temper is just as likely to ruin everything. Donya wants wielder training, and Jahl's her only option. If Jahl agrees to share his skill with Donya, is she not just one more holder of dangerous secrets? But those pretty blue eyes, the pain that jars him daily, the desire to wield, and treachery: each goads him toward the potential greatness promised him. It's only a magic wield away. Buy this first book in the epic fantasy adventure of good against evil, love against hate, and success against destruction.

Wielder Pratter agrees to travel to Carolan Faire to pick up an apprentice whose master died suddenlyand bring him to the Chussen wielder school. It seemed simple enough until he learned that wielders are being attacked, their powers of wielding the magic essence stolen from them. Before he can even get his first night's sleep in the dead master's house, someone enters through locked doors and attacks Jahl's friend Rouen. By noon, no one is safe and anyone could be the assailant.

Jahl and Donya journey to Loeban Desert to solve a mystery, but they don't go together. Their two-year-old daughter is a handful around essence, and Donya believes it best to keep her home. So she sends Jahl off with her brother Rouen and a Martan's Ferry guard. They should keep him out of trouble. But who's going to keep Donya and Alriane out of trouble? A valuable flask of sand sends the two of them off to Loeban Desert to find Jahl. Who can Donya trust with the knowledge her daughter is wielding far beyond her years? Keeping Alriane's developing skill secret is proving to be as difficult as crossing a desert. An elder sand walker, a young sand wielder: Jahl's not sure his new companions are telling him the truth, but at least he didn't talk Donya into traveling with him and bringing their daughter along. That would have been disastrous! Jahl must find out who's behind the fluctuating essence and missing oasis junctions before a sand walker destroys him with a sand storm beast prepared to pound him into the wind-swept dunes. Learning Donya and Alriane are searching for him somewhere in the desert sands means he has far more to lose than his grimoire and sharded staff. He could lose his family. Buy the fourth book in the Standing Stone series because Jahl has never been good at avoiding trouble.

There's seeking knowledge and then there's obsession. Ever since Jahl's experience at High Reach putting the grid back together after the renegade sand walker nearly dismantled it, he's had nightmares. With them has come an insatiable curiosity for pushing the limits of wielding magic essence. The nightmares aren't so bad. Half the time he forgets he even had them. Donya's not forgetting though. Then there are those dreams that just won't let go, and he struggles to push the jangled feeling aside that they leave behind. Returning home from Loeban Desert will open up plenty of possibilities. There's his old shard that he buried on Fallon Mountain. It's sure to hold answers. He might yet get access to Prestig's grimoire. What about Alriane and the warning they received to keep her from extending beyond the reach appropriate to a precocious two-year-old's access to essence? Donya can take care of that. Will Donya and Rouen be enough to watch over Alriane? And what about Jahl? Maybe he needs some oversight, too. Will he know when he's pushed wielding magic essence too far? Who's experienced enough to know when he's crossed the mark? What if he goes so far that even Donya and Rouen won't be able to pull him back from the brink? Read the fifth book in the Standing Stone series because even the best wielders cross the line.