First published 2013
Mags stands in the Collegium corridors, but the familiar halls no longer feel like home. His presence puts Valdemar's heart at risk, and everyone knows it. The Collegium leaders fear he has become a target that draws danger to their doorstep. Hiding elsewhere seems the only option, but Mags proposes something bolder. He will return to the Bastion, the raiders' mountain stronghold where he spent his childhood as a prisoner alongside his parents. Perhaps the abandoned headquarters holds clues to his mysterious past and the threats that now follow him. Herald Jadrek and Herald Kylan agree to accompany him, along with his closest friends Bear, Lena, and Amily. The group sets out for the hidden fortress in the hills, but the Bastion guards secrets none of them anticipated. What they discover challenges everything Mags believed about his origins and forces him to confront truths that will reshape his understanding of himself and his place in Valdemar.
Genres: adventure, mystery, fantasy, young-adult
Vibes: emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: chosen-one, found-family
Setting: Valdemar, Collegium, Bastion
Period: Collegium Chronicles
342 pages · Hardcover · DAW