K. J. Taylor

"Half-breed Queen Laela Taranisãii is in more danger than ever before. Her subjects hate her, her closest allies, including her griffin, have fallen, and, most worryingly, the Night God's immortal assassin, The Shadow That Walks, is bent upon reaping vengeance. As her enemies close in on all sides, her methods of maintaining power increase in desperation--and violence. Laela's half-brother, Kullervo, is supposed to be her strongest ally. But as he comes to terms with both who he is and what his sister's reign means to the land, he begins to doubt his once strong loyalties. With the conflict drawing to its bloody close, he must decide what he's truly prepared to fight for, a choice that could have dire consequences for all he once held dear. Meanwhile, a new threat is lurking in the darkness, the Night God's final, deadly pawn. It is this shadow that will decide the outcome of the war--and its power that will seal the fates of all involved."--Page of cover.

In the land of Cymria, humans and griffins rule side by side. To be a griffiner - the human companion and ambassador to a griffin - is to have both status and dangerous responsibility. Arren Cardockson is a despised Northener, a people conquered and enslaved centuries ago. By freak chance, Arren became a griffiner, but many resent and fear his existence. When his griffin dies during an attempt to catch a wild griffin, Arren's life spirals out of control.