The Last Ballad of Hope

DEATH CANNOT HOLD HIM—THAT'S WHAT THEY SAID. AND THEY WERE RIGHT...

Evil has been made manifest, returned from shadow and madness. Try as they might, those who would be heroes could not prevent the return of The Dark One.

In the shattering aftermath, the survivors have but one choice: hunt down what cannot be killed. Cob, the ranger—the cursed—must find his quarry before the enemy makes his first move. By his side rides Androma, fearless and unyielding. They must succeed. To fail would doom the realm to a new war, a war without end.

But in a world slipping into darkness, not all hope is lost. A time of dragons is yet to come. Joran Pendain must shoulder the weight of that destiny, but he need not shoulder it alone anymore. In the depths of Azad-guul, where only despair might breed, Joran's path crossed with that of a dragon egg—his egg.

Theirs was not the only path to cross, however. True to his word, Baelon Vos—Dragonlord—would make Joran a Rider worthy of legend—if he could survive the training. Baelon's designs for the world have been years in the making, and Joran might just be the missing piece to bring it all together. Or bring it all down.

And beneath the waves, the ocean races stir, the currents swelling with revolution and the hope of freedom. Kitrana Voden, a battle maiden of the Swordsworn and proud Nimean, must find her way back to the people of Nimala before extinction drowns them all—before the oldest demon from the oldest world awakens from its slumber.

Above or below, it matters not to The Dark One. He is not afraid to be called evil. If evil could not be corrupted, bound, or destroyed, then he would gladly endure the title, if only to weed out the beasts that clothe themselves as men.

HE IS NOT THE CHOSEN ONE. HE IS NOT A HERO. JUST A MAN—WHO REFUSED TO DIE.