Generations ago, shifters -- many with magic powers -- were accepted throughout Emylnor. But a war with the nearby dragon nation bred concern, and though Emylnor's forces beat back the invasion, the shifters retreated into hiding.<br><br>Akton is a weasel shifter who seems to have no magical talents. When he is hunted, Talfryn joins the fight, finally able to flex his salamander flame powers. But while they make a good team, the thrill quickly wears off when they uncover recruitment orders. A shifter named Basil is building an army.<br><br>Someone has to warn Queen Ylenia before Basil can launch Emylnor into another war. When Akton and Talfryn volunteer to deliver the information to her, they have no intention of getting deeply involved with the fight -- or each other. But to stop Basil, they need to learn to trust each other completely, and fast. Or all of Emylnor will burn ...

Flame and Snow

He bent down and tore off his boots, dropped his pack. Feet to the ash-covered ground, he could sense the fire magic better. The source was in front of him, having come down the main road from the same way Talfryn had. It stopped ahead, far enough away that Talfryn couldn’t see the shifter through the smoke and fire.


A pillar of flame shot up four feet from him, thick as an old oak, twisting skyward. Talfryn staggered away from it, the magic intense, and tried not to panic. He could feel the shifter moving back down the street toward him, strengthening the fires with the approach. True, Talfryn couldn’t be burned by this current fire, but he wasn’t so certain he couldn’t be burned by intense, well-trained shifter fire. After all, from what he’d read, in the past shifters had gotten into devastating battles. He might burn slower than a shifter without fire magic, but Talfryn had little doubt he’d still burn.


Chapter 32