Showing results by author "AJ Cooper" in All Categories

The town of Dark Harrow is of little note, small, backward, in the hinterlands of a forgotten region. But when a stranger named Theo arrives at the local inn, following after him Margos the Hunter, seeking, alternately, a ruby necklace and a fiend, the unique properties of the town called Dark Harrow are laid bare. Sinister powers are afoot, and evil lies in wait. Originally published on Kindle Vella.

An evil not seen in hundreds of years has awakened in the highland nation of Badelgard. The Ulfr - the original inhabitants of the land whose evil was matched only by their power over death - stir from their barrows. The dead walk again at the command of an Ulfr witch. The fate of the High King and the possession of the High Throne grow more and more uncertain.

A summons from a long-lost mentor thrusts Reev Nax, a boy of uncertain parentage, into a fateful journey of discovery. Reev learns that an ancient evil has reawakened in the world of Varda, and that two prophetic figures, one the Hand of Light and the other, a man declared the Dark One's Hand, are predicted to appear. Along the way, he will meet many friends—Fortunato, a warrior and tracker; Wrinn, a former pit fighter; Ambrass, a serving girl whose fate may be written in the stars; and more.

The Demiurge’s legacy of evil has been largely forgotten; the memory of his reign of terror, almost vanished. Yet Gaia—having bridged the gap between her world and his—ushers him once again into the world of the living. As Eloesus slips into total war, the hero Theron hides away in a secluded mountain. Under the guidance of the centaur Aigon, he flees danger, even as the Demiurge’s shadow falls across the land. The fifth book of the Wind of Destiny series.

Pietro, a young man, has never killed: something rare for the corrupt city of Peregoth and totally alien to the tropics of Molkoro, where circumstances will soon take him. In the sweltering jungle, his purity has become a commodity to the ettin invaders and their lord, the dark Vexor. But how long can his innocence last in a godless land?

In ancient times, the dark god Kronos crafted weapons of war in his fiery lair. His worship has long been eradicated, his followers driven into hiding... and yet he remains... Creatures of shadow are crawling through the land of Eloesus... they seek one man above all else: Theron, upstanding citizen, master swordsman, and veteran of many wars. As he flees, doom is falling over the land: clouds of fire hover over the ancient city of Thenai and infernal names not spoken in thousands of years thunder from the mountaintops. A hero is needed. A wind of destiny is blowing, yet Theron is one false...

“Trust no one. To survive to my age, you must judge men’s character well. Fear your enemies, yes. But fear your friends even more.” With the death of Claudio-Valens Adamantus, many fear the golden age will come to an end. In the Imperial Palace, his wife Anthea struggles to survive conspiracies and assassinations. Her only ally is Melorra, priestess of the mother goddess, whose commitment to nonviolence may prove her undoing. Though barbarians attack from beyond the northern wall and power-hungry councilors do their best to achieve the White Throne, the greatest threat may come from ...

The Empire has reached its zenith of power and prosperity, but things are rarely as they seem. As shadow spreads across the world, the Revered Order of Hunters scours the provinces for demon shrines and their fiendish worshipers, all while an eerie silence south of the Imperial border hints of a gathering storm. The emperor Severus struggles to maintain the recent peace and harmony, though he knows the growing dark touches all strata of society, from the highest official to the lowliest street actor, and no one is worthy of trust. Far away, unbeknownst to the southron King of Kings and the ...

Angrok, a great warrior, is called many things: a terrible destroyer by his many enemies, and a powerful avenger by those he chooses to save. This collection brings together two of Angrok's adventures as told from the perspective of his assistant Marcellus. In "Angrok the Avenger", Marcellus and his master take revenge upon a dangerous city of spider worshippers. In "Angrok the Destroyer", they come to Bezakirah, a desert city controlled by two fanatical and increasingly warlike houses. Whether he is a destroyer or an avenger, you decide.

The Empire teeters on the brink of collapse. A hedonistic teen assumes the throne under false pretenses while a slave rebellion erupts in the north. The southern King of Kings, sensing weakness, sets his eyes on his vulnerable foe. In the midst of the growing tumult, a young man from the Empire's hinterlands grudgingly heads to Imperial City. There, Claudio-Valens sees firsthand the weak, treasonous Imperial Council that aids foreign enemies, and finds himself at the center of the fight to save the country he loves.

Alysse Riverhall sails to her native land, vowing to return with an army of knights. While Sigmund sits on the throne, Kenna Wildsaber calls up spirits of darkness to aid her ambitions. The undead High Witch of the Ulfr plots and waits for her chance. But only one of them can be High Queen.

More than 400 years after the vampire's curse first took hold among the Dark Prince's children, the druen nation faces certain doom. The non-cursed elven tribes, angered by recent atrocities, form an unprecedented union to annihilate the druen race. The king of the vampires musters his too-few soldiers to stave off certain obliteration, but the Dark Elves and High Elves, acting in unison, have made up their minds: to invade the Dark Land and bring about the Day of Reckoning.

From the ashes of civil war, the vampire nation emerges stronger than ever. Homar son of Homar, whom history will know as the Prince of Dread, musters his troops to avenge a nearly forgotten wrong. Caught in the wake of the vampire king's ambition is Malirias, an escaped slave who would rather die than lose his false freedom. But the vampire nation does not forgive, and in the end he may perish in the tumult, threatening to remake the world.

Druthor, the ancient king of the vampires, sought to cheat death with alchemy but only quickened his demise. His sudden death throws Nardur into civil war as the lesser lords vie for the Crimson Throne. In the north, the Black Zealots of the Lonely Temple remain neutral but - in time - everyone must pick their allegiance; and choosing the wrong side means death.

>A century has passed since the vampire race settled in the arctic north. It seems all is well for Druthor the Great, King of the Vampires, sitting uncontested on the Crimson Throne, when an iron sorceress arrives from the southlands. With her tales of war and tumult, she brings memories of what Druthor does not have: a national heirloom, an ancestral treasure - Lifedrinker, the ancient blade of the vampires. But recovering it will prove more dangerous than any could possibly imagine.

This story originally appeared in Mindflights Magazine in Sept. 2008.

The City on the Rock is dying. It rests on Salan, Captain of the Tower Guard, to find out why.

The first vampires, driven from their home, find themselves locked in a struggle for survival. The King of the Elves sends an army to destroy them, and the only escape is north. Their last hope may lie in the walled frontier town of Dundari, or beyond in the White Wastes: a land of ice and snow completely empty of life...or so everyone thinks.

Nocturne, a descendant of Prince Gilden, is an outsider. He sees humans as more than bloodmeals - something not well respected in Druen society. One winter night, his compassion gets the best of him when he kills his neighbor to save a human slave. Forced to flee his village and everything he's ever known, he begins a world-spanning journey in pursuit of his true home. His search will take him from the frozen wilderness of the Druen to the great cities of the non-cursed Elves and beyond, perhaps even into the realms of humanity.

The doors to the Temple of Amara are sealed shut, leaving citizens of Thenai to wonder what lies inside. Abroad, the war effort flags and in the city itself, unrest has begun to spread. In the middle of it all, the amazon Khloe attempts desperately to find a missing child and begins to suspect it has something to do with the temple's transformation. Far away, the hero Geon has almost completed his angelic metamorphosis. As his power grows, he swears an oath to restore Amara's priesthood. He ventures far from home to find the last surviving priestess, unaware that something is hunting him. ...

The city of Thénai and the military alliance it leads resurge from the brink of destruction to become more powerful than ever. The hero Theron, Thénai’s most famous citizen, has been gone for more than a decade, but rumors spread that his return is imminent, that he has set his heart against the city he once loved, and that he has vowed to help its enemies in the war. None know his possible motivations, but some say they are written in scrolls of prophecy. The ninth and final book of the Wind of Destiny series.