Gryphon's Eye (Casting Shadows, #1) / Casting Shadows (ePub)

Welcome to the world of Gryphon's Eye, an epic fantasy in which familiars-those magical beasts of classic folktales-loom as the ultimate chess pieces in a battle for the soul of a kingdom.

Traejon Frost has spent the last five years of his life roaming the mist-shrouded forests and mountains of the kingdom of Fyngree in service to the famed sorcerer-king Owyn Suntold. His mission? To guard the king's wild familiar, a falcon that is the wellspring of Owyn's prodigious spellcasting abilities. It's a lonely life, but what of it? At least out there, sleeping under the moon and stars, Traejon is not so haunted by the harrowing memories of his violent past.

In the Fyngrean capital of Kylden, meanwhile, young Jessalyn Suntold leads a life of luxury and ease. But despite her status as the only heir to her father's throne, Jess feels forsaken. For she has spent her life pining for a visitor that has never arrived. A familiar of her own, one capable of unlocking her dormant magical abilities so that she might defend herself against Fyngree's enemies. And now she can see the fear in her father's eyes-a dread that the centuries-long rule of the Suntold line will come crashing down when he draws his last breath.

And so it goes, warrior and princess each grappling with their own private demons. Until a night of terror in which Jess learns of a sinister plot to drag King Owyn from his throne. But when she unites with Traejon in a desperate quest to unmask the conspirators, they discover that allies can turn into enemies in the blink of an eye. And that monsters come in human as well as fantastical form. Yet still they press onward, searching for the truth in an empire teetering on the brink of collapse. Until they stumble upon the most stunning revelation of all-that everything they know about the world of magic around them is a lie.

Gryphon's Eye is the first volume in the Casting Shadows Trilogy.