Now a student at Wurthaven, Will is confronted with the truth of the present. The powerful magic embodied by wizards like his grandfather is but a distant memory, while the practice of the current day is timid and uninspired, and yet he needs the knowledge still preserved and managed by the college. At every turn he finds that sorcery is supreme, while wizards are trained merely to assist and support those who hold the real power-a power based on an evil so deep that few living know the truth of its foundation.As a student of wizardry, he's expected to know his place and stay in it, but Will isn't like the other students. His grandfather's teaching has made him into something different, something forgotten-something they will learn to fear.If he can grow into his power. With every choice, every refusal to submit, Will creates more enemies, enemies who aren't content to let him live in peace. Without friends or support, Will must survive the knives in the dark, for Cerria is no place for those who refuse to follow the rules. Michael Manning, a practicing pharmacist, has been a fantasy and science-fiction reader for most of his life. He has dabbled in software design, fantasy art, and is an avid tree climber. He lives in Texas, with his stubborn wife, two kids, and a menagerie of fantastic creatures, including a moose-poodle, a vicious yorkie, and a giant prehistoric turtle. The ancient wizards lifted humanity from superstition, but the rise of sorcery destroyed their wisdom and replaced it with easy power. Yet, the last wizard of the old ways still survives, and his apprentice will catalyze the emergence of a new age.
