When Silke and Lucius Stone follow up a strange death at Ysgard’s Enforcer HQ, and also agree to help a Marshman evict sinister tenants from his cave, these seem like simple commissions. In the third of their partnership adventures of the FIRE & ICE series, they turn into a nightmare!
Their friend, Trace, is in deep trouble as well when he is duped by two witches and kidnapped. It’s Stone’s life they are after: they believe he was responsible for the death of their sister some years before. Unwilling to involve Silke in his problems, Stone goes off on his own to rescue Trace and finds he has walked into a fatal trap. Fortunately, Silke follows him to the Chasm of Fire, arriving just in time to prevent his certain death.
When the pair enter the Rill marshlands to investigate the Marshman’s complaint they are way out of their depth and find themselves confronting the very witches who kidnapped Trace. Although they manage to rescue their friend, the two investigators are outclassed by the shape-shifting witches and have to beat a hasty retreat.
Back in Ysgard, they discover that an archeological dig has let loose a deadly demon king – Ichnubis - who is intent on destroying the population by implanting them with grimms – parasitic demons that will form his army. It took twenty-five mages to imprison Ichnubis the last time, and such a formidable foe is too much for Silke and Lucius Stone to take on by themselves. On this occasion they are glad to be helped by Silke’s aunt, Alvette, with a team of other mages and adepts, to put the demon back in his underground prison.
There is just one loose end left to be tied: the two witch sisters are still at large. Silke and Stone are forced to accept help from an unusual source in order to track them down…but what happens once they arrest the pair is beyond anything they could have foreseen.
Their adventures finally behind them, the visiting mages prepare to return to their various homes, but two of them at least offer Silke and Stone the tantalising promise of something more than a fleeting friendship: the young Ellanoi windmage, Aspen, and the fascinating and beautiful water sprite, Lirian. Will this be the dawn of a new, romantic episode in their lives…and what will happen to their own relationship?
When Silke and Lucius Stone follow up a strange death at Ysgard’s Enforcer HQ, and also agree to help a Marshman evict sinister tenants from his cave, these seem like simple commissions. In the third of their partnership adventures of the FIRE & ICE series, they turn into a nightmare!
Their friend, Trace, is in deep trouble as well when he is duped by two witches and kidnapped. It’s Stone’s life they are after: they believe he was responsible for the death of their sister some years before. Unwilling to involve Silke in his problems, Stone goes off on his own to rescue Trace and finds he has walked into a fatal trap. Fortunately, Silke follows him to the Chasm of Fire, arriving just in time to prevent his certain death.
When the pair enter the Rill marshlands to investigate the Marshman’s complaint they are way out of their depth and find themselves confronting the very witches who kidnapped Trace. Although they manage to rescue their friend, the two investigators are outclassed by the shape-shifting witches and have to beat a hasty retreat.
Back in Ysgard, they discover that an archeological dig has let loose a deadly demon king – Ichnubis - who is intent on destroying the population by implanting them with grimms – parasitic demons that will form his army. It took twenty-five mages to imprison Ichnubis the last time, and such a formidable foe is too much for Silke and Lucius Stone to take on by themselves. On this occasion they are glad to be helped by Silke’s aunt, Alvette, with a team of other mages and adepts, to put the demon back in his underground prison.
There is just one loose end left to be tied: the two witch sisters are still at large. Silke and Stone are forced to accept help from an unusual source in order to track them down…but what happens once they arrest the pair is beyond anything they could have foreseen.
Their adventures finally behind them, the visiting mages prepare to return to their various homes, but two of them at least offer Silke and Stone the tantalising promise of something more than a fleeting friendship: the young Ellanoi windmage, Aspen, and the fascinating and beautiful water sprite, Lirian. Will this be the dawn of a new, romantic episode in their lives…and what will happen to their own relationship?