Anteros

The Far Kingdoms...a place of bright sunlight surrounded by dark, deadly wilderness. A place where the princes and magicians were kind and wise beyond all imagination. A place where wine and song were always sweet, every purse was fat with gold, and every heart at ease. The Far Kingdoms...said to lie in the distant east, across the straits of the Narrow Sea, beyond the benighted Pepper Coast, in uncharted territory. The Far Kingdoms...a place no one could reach even if it were real - which surely it wasn't. Young, pampered Amalric Antero cared only for real places and possible dreams. The time had come to Find His Tradewind, to make the traditional journey seeking out new lands, new riches, new customers as his merchant father, and his father's father, had done before him. He meant only to do as all young traders did: travel to the known lands in the west and return home having proved himself able to deal well with his father's customers. Nothing more was expected. But then he met Janos Greycloak, a dashing soldier who dabbled in forbidden magic and who carried on him proof of riches and mysteries beyond imagination. And suddenly Amalric found himself setting out on the adventure of a lifetime, a daring and perilous quest through unknown lands peopled by nightmares, to seek the ultimate in fables...The Far Kingdoms!

THE WARRIOR'S TALE: Captain Rali Emilie Antero came from an illustrious family of traders, wizards, and adventurers. But Rali cared little for magic, and even less for journeying. She was a soldier, captain of the elite Maranon Guard, staunch defenders of the majestic city of Orissa. But her family legacy was about to catch up with her. For the Guard's latest mission was sheer suicide: a sea-going odyssey in search of an evil master wizard–the last Archon of Lycanth–who had fled with a secret doomsday spell that could destroy all of civilization. It would be Rali's greatest challenge: a desperate pursuit, raging across the great Western Sea to the fire reefs that marked the end of the world–and beyond, to places unmarked even in legend. But only in the uncharted territories of her own soul–and the heritage of the Anteros–would Rali find the power to defeat the Archon and return to Orissa in triumph.

Ever since Amalric Antero returned from the legendary Far Kingdoms, bringing with him magic and riches, the people of Orissa believed they lived in a golden age. Even Amalric did not suspect the truth: that dark forces from another world threatened his beloved city. Then a beautiful stranger arrived claiming to be the great-granddaughter of Janos Greycloak, master-wizard and betrayer of Amalric's youth. And Amalric learned that the idyllic lands he had thought were the Far Kingdoms were not–and that the real Far Kingdoms, the Kingdoms of the Night, were all that stood between civilization and unimaginably evil powers from another world.

For those who thrill to the adventure and wonder of The Anteros, here is the book where all the secrets from Kingdoms of the Night are finally, dazzlingly, revealed. For new initiates, this tale stands alone, entry to a world of intrigue, high drama, derring-do... and, most of all, magic! All of Orissa believed that Rali Emilie Antero, legendary warrior and sorceress extraordinaire, was dead, lost at sea during some grand adventure gone wrong. In fact, Rali was not dead, but left entombed in ice to dream for eternity - until a goddess needed her for one last quest... Novari, a beautiful succubus intent on achieving ultimate power, had swept the world by storm. All the Anteros had been assassinated - save one: a golden, magical child named Emilie. Novari had succeeded in taking Orissa. Now she had only to seize little Emilie, as well. She never counted on the return of Rali Antero...