The Blessed of the Dragon
4 primary works
Book 1
Yolken Thornhill has a gift. His ability to craft unique ales has made him locally famous. But when tragedy strikes the small town of Lonely Oak, he uses another gift—a forbidden gift—and attracts deadly attention.
The Drake family rules over all of Dradonia. They are known as the Blessed of the Dragon, worshipped by many and respected by all. When they visit Lonely Oak, the locals celebrate with an impromptu festival.
When news of the festival reaches Yolken, he seizes the rare opportunity to bring high-profile attention to his ales. At first, the celebration is a big success. But in one terrible moment, a loved one ends up dead, and the Blessed take his brother Javen prisoner.
As truth unravels around Yolken, he finds himself in the middle of a centuries-long struggle for power and justice. He must rely on the help of a small rebel group that common folks fear to name aloud. As he learns to control his new gift, he is anxious to free Javen before their family's connection to the rebels gets Javen killed. But unbeknownst to Yolken, the Blessed’s plan for Javen is not a simple rebel’s death, but something much more sinister.
When the Blessed finally catch up to Yolken, he must choose an impossible path: a path that could cost him his life. The path of the Synthesizer.
Book 2
When a dragon hunts its prey, it descends quietly from on high; whether night or day, it rains fire from the sky
Yolken grew up listening with rapt attention to fantastical stories about the Island of Kvorga. It's an island enshrouded in mystery and inhabited by plants and animals that defy the laws of nature. Few ever visit the island, and even fewer live to tell about it. Even the Blessed avoid it unless absolutely necessary.
Never in his life did Yolken imagine visiting the Island of Kvorga. But when he learns that the only person capable of freeing Javen from the Blessed's deadly clutches might live there, he knows he must go. With Jax, Deborah, and Kaylan by his side, he travels to the island and risks its many mysteries. But what Yolken finds on Kvorga is the last thing he expected. And what he learns will forever alter his path.
Javen, meanwhile, is finally out from under Yolken's shadow and is enjoying the attention showered upon him in Onta, the gem of the Western Realm. But all too quickly he learns that with his newfound status in the Regency comes the onus of responsibility. And before he has a chance to acclimate to his new role, that responsibility will pit Javen's loyalties to the Regency against the bonds of family.
Join Yolken and Javen in The Island of Kvorga, book two of The Blessed of the Dragon, as they navigate different yet intertwining paths.
Book 3
After returning from the island of Kvorga, Yolken experienced a disastrous confrontation with the Regency. Not only did he fail to rescue Javen, but Kaylan is now a prisoner of the Regency as well. And it was all his fault. He desperately wants to return to Onta and rescue Kaylan, but a far greater peril pulls him away. Faced with an impossible task, he begrudgingly assumes a role he doesn't want and seeks help from someone who wants him dead.
Meanwhile, Javen has been thoroughly enjoying himself in Onta, wanting for almost nothing. The only thing missing was the woman he loved. So when he learned Yolken and Kaylan would be passing through Onta, he seized his opportunity to take her for himself. After successfully kidnapping Kaylan and at last standing up to his brother, Javen travels to the capital of the empire to become a regent. But unexpected advice compels him to decide where his loyalties truly reside.
After Hadie's attempt to kill Drenan failed, she went in search of the man she loves only to be humiliated when she finds him with someone else. Dejected, she returns to Hantlo. Realizing the Blessed are doing nothing to combat the worsening environmental conditions rapidly destroying her home, Hadie decides it's time to liberate the south from their oppressive rule. Knowing that no rebellion has ever succeeded and having witnessed the Blessed's swift judgment on those who try, she teams up with an unsavory group to attempt the impossible. The result is not what she expected.
Book 4
Yolken stood atop the tallest building in the empire-a place he didn't want to be-pondering a problem he didn't know how to solve. The sun was dying. Millennia of Synthesizing, fueled by greed and a never-ending thirst for power, had knocked it out of balance. And if he doesn't figure out how to stop it, the sun will destroy Dradonia along with everyone he loves.
Meanwhile, freshly reconciled with Yolken, Javen's finds himself once again doing his brother's bidding. Still unaccustomed to his newfound role as the Regent of Onta and haunted by past failures, he finds himself woefully unprepared for what Yolken asks him to do next.
Hadie has freed the Southern Realm from the Blessed's oppressive rule, but she quickly realized their freedom came at a high cost. It is now up to her to find a way to protect her people from the increasingly deadly environmental catastrophes destroying her fledgling kingdom.
And finally, after suffering a humiliating defeat to Yolken and his allies, Drenan is more determined than ever to cauterize loose ends that have plagued him for centuries. To succeed, he must risk traveling to a part of the empire isolated long ago by deadly storms. What he finds there will all but guarantee his success.