Showing results by author "AJ Cooper" in All Categories

Julia, the emperor's daughter, has now been missing for many months. But as the Red Hand cult takes root across Imperial City, more dangers arise and new threats present themselves. Publius Corvus, soldier of the Empire, can only linger a little while until he marches north to fight Eioli. War, death, and troubles mount, but still whispers linger and rumors endure... amid the conflict and a calm before the storm, the streets of Imperial City echo with talk of the Red Dawn... Book 2 of the Red Dawn series

An evil not seen in hundreds of years has awakened in the highland nation of Badelgard. The Ulfr - the original inhabitants of the land whose evil was matched only by their power over death - stir from their barrows. The dead walk again at the command of an Ulfr witch. The fate of the High King and the possession of the High Throne grow more and more uncertain.

A summons from a long-lost mentor thrusts Reev Nax, a boy of uncertain parentage, into a fateful journey of discovery. Reev learns that an ancient evil has reawakened in the world of Varda, and that two prophetic figures, one the Hand of Light and the other, a man declared the Dark One's Hand, are predicted to appear. Along the way, he will meet many friends—Fortunato, a warrior and tracker; Wrinn, a former pit fighter; Ambrass, a serving girl whose fate may be written in the stars; and more.

In ancient times, the dark god Kronos crafted weapons of war in his fiery lair. His worship has long been eradicated, his followers driven into hiding... and yet he remains... Creatures of shadow are crawling through the land of Eloesus... they seek one man above all else: Theron, upstanding citizen, master swordsman, and veteran of many wars. As he flees, doom is falling over the land: clouds of fire hover over the ancient city of Thenai and infernal names not spoken in thousands of years thunder from the mountaintops. A hero is needed. A wind of destiny is blowing, yet Theron is one false...

“Trust no one. To survive to my age, you must judge men’s character well. Fear your enemies, yes. But fear your friends even more.” With the death of Claudio-Valens Adamantus, many fear the golden age will come to an end. In the Imperial Palace, his wife Anthea struggles to survive conspiracies and assassinations. Her only ally is Melorra, priestess of the mother goddess, whose commitment to nonviolence may prove her undoing. Though barbarians attack from beyond the northern wall and power-hungry councilors do their best to achieve the White Throne, the greatest threat may come from ...

Pietro, a young man, has never killed: something rare for the corrupt city of Peregoth and totally alien to the tropics of Molkoro, where circumstances will soon take him. In the sweltering jungle, his purity has become a commodity to the ettin invaders and their lord, the dark Vexor. But how long can his innocence last in a godless land?

In the shadow of a mountain, Rogon, the Dark Captain — slain by his enemies — stirs to life. Bearing the Gauntlet of the Demiurge, he awakens more powerful than ever before. Not far away, Theron, hero of the Southron War, embarks on a quest to avenge the Oracle for her betrayal. With the centaur Aigon at his side, he navigates a country torn asunder by war, ignorant of the power the Dark Captain has unleashed. The sixth book of the Wind of Destiny series.

From the ashes of civil war, the vampire nation emerges stronger than ever. Homar son of Homar, whom history will know as the Prince of Dread, musters his troops to avenge a nearly forgotten wrong. Caught in the wake of the vampire king's ambition is Malirias, an escaped slave who would rather die than lose his false freedom. But the vampire nation does not forgive, and in the end he may perish in the tumult, threatening to remake the world.

Nocturne, a descendant of Prince Gilden, is an outsider. He sees humans as more than bloodmeals - something not well respected in Druen society. One winter night, his compassion gets the best of him when he kills his neighbor to save a human slave. Forced to flee his village and everything he's ever known, he begins a world-spanning journey in pursuit of his true home. His search will take him from the frozen wilderness of the Druen to the great cities of the non-cursed Elves and beyond, perhaps even into the realms of humanity.

Angrok, a great warrior, is called many things: a terrible destroyer by his many enemies, and a powerful avenger by those he chooses to save. This collection brings together two of Angrok's adventures as told from the perspective of his assistant Marcellus. In "Angrok the Avenger", Marcellus and his master take revenge upon a dangerous city of spider worshippers. In "Angrok the Destroyer", they come to Bezakirah, a desert city controlled by two fanatical and increasingly warlike houses. Whether he is a destroyer or an avenger, you decide.

The Empire teeters on the brink of collapse. A hedonistic teen assumes the throne under false pretenses while a slave rebellion erupts in the north. The southern King of Kings, sensing weakness, sets his eyes on his vulnerable foe. In the midst of the growing tumult, a young man from the Empire's hinterlands grudgingly heads to Imperial City. There, Claudio-Valens sees firsthand the weak, treasonous Imperial Council that aids foreign enemies, and finds himself at the center of the fight to save the country he loves.

In the Empire, in towns and villages, the Cult of the Red Dawn grows. Abroad, in the city of Eioli, the legions of the Empire lay siege. And underneath a red moon, as the battle endures, near Eioli’s temple where a monster dwells, a battle not just of the Empire but of the ages is set to begin. The third and final book of “Red Dawn.”

Publius Corvus, struggling with the worthiness of his cause, trains with the Imperial legion in the foothills. But as he questions the Empire and its goals, he finds himself sent on a secret mission in the mountains, a mission he increasingly does not understand. Far away, in the streets of Imperial City, with the skies full of portent, word spreads that the emperor’s daughter has been kidnapped, and rumors circulate of something else, a new era, a new world, a new “Red Dawn.”

Alysse Riverhall sails to her native land, vowing to return with an army of knights. While Sigmund sits on the throne, Kenna Wildsaber calls up spirits of darkness to aid her ambitions. The undead High Witch of the Ulfr plots and waits for her chance. But only one of them can be High Queen.

More than 400 years after the vampire's curse first took hold among the Dark Prince's children, the druen nation faces certain doom. The non-cursed elven tribes, angered by recent atrocities, form an unprecedented union to annihilate the druen race. The king of the vampires musters his too-few soldiers to stave off certain obliteration, but the Dark Elves and High Elves, acting in unison, have made up their minds: to invade the Dark Land and bring about the Day of Reckoning.

Druthor, the ancient king of the vampires, sought to cheat death with alchemy but only quickened his demise. His sudden death throws Nardur into civil war as the lesser lords vie for the Crimson Throne. In the north, the Black Zealots of the Lonely Temple remain neutral but - in time - everyone must pick their allegiance; and choosing the wrong side means death.

>A century has passed since the vampire race settled in the arctic north. It seems all is well for Druthor the Great, King of the Vampires, sitting uncontested on the Crimson Throne, when an iron sorceress arrives from the southlands. With her tales of war and tumult, she brings memories of what Druthor does not have: a national heirloom, an ancestral treasure - Lifedrinker, the ancient blade of the vampires. But recovering it will prove more dangerous than any could possibly imagine.

This story originally appeared in Mindflights Magazine in Sept. 2008.

The City on the Rock is dying. It rests on Salan, Captain of the Tower Guard, to find out why.

The first vampires, driven from their home, find themselves locked in a struggle for survival. The King of the Elves sends an army to destroy them, and the only escape is north. Their last hope may lie in the walled frontier town of Dundari, or beyond in the White Wastes: a land of ice and snow completely empty of life...or so everyone thinks.

The town of Dark Harrow is of little note, small, backward, in the hinterlands of a forgotten region. But when a stranger named Theo arrives at the local inn, following after him Margos the Hunter, seeking, alternately, a ruby necklace and a fiend, the unique properties of the town called Dark Harrow are laid bare. Sinister powers are afoot, and evil lies in wait. Originally published on Kindle Vella.