Tony Andarian

The End of the Beginning, the fourth and final episode in Dawn of Chaos: Hell Gate, will be released on May 26th. It is now available for pre-order on all major e-book retailers!

Episode III, The Massacre of Lannamon, is also now available for purchase from all major e-book retailers.

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The road ahead suddenly took a sharp turn. Randia sprinted around the rocky corner and found herself at the edge of a cliff. To her right, she saw the winding stair that led down toward the Silver Star. And beyond the stair and several hundred feet below, she could finally see the eastern end of Lannamon.

The scene that met her gaze seemed as though taken from a nightmare. Fires raged, uncontrolled, throughout the city. Bands of demons, dragons, and Hellmen were everywhere, pillaging and killing at will. The Carlissan fleet had been burned or sunk, and the army base on the north shore of the firth was little more than a ruin.

She barely noticed it all. She stared instead, wide eyed, at the Silver Star Adventurer’s Academy. It stood just ahead of her, at the bottom of the stair and the base of the cliff.

It was burning.

The main gates had been shattered and great gaping holes had been torn in its walls. Demons surged in and around them, invading the grounds. Loud reports of magic boomed as blasts of fire and lightning tore through the few defenders who were left. The adamant and bluesteel spire of the great tower, once the pride of the academy and her grandfather’s home, was a solid column of flame.

The Star had fallen.

She stumbled forward to stand at the brink of the cliff and stared at the vista of destruction. Her one hope had been to reach the academy, to bring the ring to her grandfather. That hope was now gone.

I’ve failed them, she thought numbly. I’ve failed them all. I’m too late, and now the world will pay the price.

From Sanctum of the Archmage: The End of the Beginning by Tony Andarian

The Massacre of Lannamon is the third episode in Dawn of Chaos: Hell Gate, and the fourth installment in the Sanctum of the Archmage saga. And it’s now available for purchase from all major e-book retailers!

The first three books, including Episode II, The Ring of the Killravens, are also already available from all major e-book retailers. Click here to find them!

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“I admire your determination to set the course of your own life,” Diana said at last. “I’ve always had a streak of independence, but I’ve never even thought of resisting my family’s expectations of me.”

“That sort of thing isn’t exactly encouraged in Dorian society,” he offered.

“No, it’s not. But you’ve had remarkable support for it here. From professors at the academy, even the Archmage himself. I guess that’s what’s always fascinated me about Carlissa. Even the princess, allowed to become a bard. That would be unheard of in my homeland.”

Without warning, she walked to the window and pulled aside the valence. Orion came to stand by her side, an inquisitive expression on his face. They looked out on the city together.

The Carlissan resistance was broken. Fires raged everywhere, and columns of smoke rose like orange pillars into the reddening sky. The walls and towers of the army base had been shattered and were being consumed in a raging inferno. The only soldiers they could see lay dead. Hellmen, demons, giants, and dragons roamed or flew over the streets, destroying, killing, and taking prisoners at will.

They turned to the west. An enormous force of battle demons was surging against the palace. The outer gates lay in ruins. Explosions and reports of magic echoed through the valley as the defenders fought a losing battle to hold the fortifications. Shadows were reaching across the city as the sun moved down toward the shoulder of Mount Cascade.

“All that is gone now,” she said bitterly. “Even if the people survive, and the demons don’t just slaughter us all. That budding spirit of independence will end.”

She turned to look at Orion, face haunted. “It’s going to be lost forever, isn’t it?”

He shook his head. Diana was surprised to see that defiance still burned in his eyes.

“There’s one last hope,” he said quietly.

“What?”

Orion pointed across the firth to the Silver Star Adventurer’s Academy. Another brigade of battle demons swarmed around it, but its tower still stood, gleaming proudly against the afternoon sky.

“The Archmage,” he said. “He would never surrender the city without a fight. I don’t know what he’s waiting for, or what his plan is. But he has one.” His eyes hardened. “And this battle won’t be over until he’s played his hand.”

From Sanctum of the Archmage: The Massacre of Lannamon by Tony Andarian.

The Ring of the Killravens, the third book in Sanctum of the Archmage saga and the second episode in Dawn of Chaos: Hell Gate, is now available from all major e-book stores! And the previous book, The Return of the Horde, is in Bargain Booksy’s deals promo list for today, April 14th, 2022.

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He leaned in toward the viewing port, looking at it intently.

“Can you get us closer?” he asked suddenly. “I want a look at this general of theirs.”

“You don’t think it’s Emil?” Elena asked.

Danor shook his head. “Zomoran may be calling himself a Warlord now, but he’s no military commander. Someone else is directing this attack.” He paused, and then added: “Or some thing.”

“I can try,” Gerard said. The image in the viewport shifted, flying down toward the hellgate.

“There,” Danor said suddenly, pointing. “About halfway between the dome and the marketplace.”

The image slowed to a stop. In its center, they saw a demon with a snake-like head perched atop a long, serpentine neck. Its skin was scaly and its body reptilian, with long, slender limbs. Although it looked small and weak for a demon, something in its bearing — and in the deference it received from the monsters around it — filled them with dread.

“So powerful,” Elena whispered.

Danor glanced at her. She was staring at the creature, but with her eyes closed, as if looking at it with an inner sight.

“I’ve never sensed anything like it,” she said. Her voice was trembling.

Nor will you again, Queen Elena, a voice said menacingly.

They started. They had heard the voice not with their ears, but in their minds. It spoke softly, but with a commanding intensity that struck them with fear and awe.

The King whirled back to the portal. The demon had turned to face it from the other side. It’s single, great eye was looking right at them. A shiver ran down his spine as he realized that it could see them just as well as they could see it.

“By the Light, Emil,” Elena whispered, in a voice filled with horror. “What have you unleashed on our world?”

From Sanctum of the Archmage: The Ring of the Killravens, by Tony Andarian

The Ring of the Killravens, the third book in the Sanctum of the Archmage Saga, will be released on April 14th. It is now available for pre-order on all major e-book retailers!

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The first six books in the saga are already available directly from Andarian Publishing, on this website. They are also available for purchase or pre-order now on Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble (“Nook”), and Rakuten Kobo, as well as several international bookstores.

Prologue to Chaos, the first book in the Sanctum of the Archmage Saga, is now available from all major e-books stores! In this scene, we meet the villain of the series: Emil Zomoran, Lord of Westreach — soon to be known as “The Black Magus.”

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“Done with puppets of the ruling class, too busy tiptoeing around zealots, and dancing on the strings pulled by an old man behind the scenes. The only other great mind in this entire besotted nation, but without the ambition to guide it into the embrace of history.

“Oddly enough, I may owe Salmanor Hardin a debt for opening my eyes today. I see now that this society is decadent beyond redemption. It is time for it to be purged in fire and rebuilt from the ashes.”

Aron’s eyes hardened as he returned the magus’s acid glare.

“The people of Carlissa are not toys or machines, Zomoran,” he said, “to be ‘engineered’ to suit your view of the way things should be. They are individuals, with rights and dignity. Too often in the past have we made that mistake. It’s time to try a better way.”

Zomoran shook his head and laughed again.

“So parrots the puppet,” he mocked. “Your grandfather’s ideals are a delusion, boy. A nation of sheep cannot govern itself. It needs to be led, by those with the knowledge and spirit to understand what is best for them. Or do I truly have to lecture a princeling of the realm on the meaning of noblesse oblige?”

His free arm reached behind him. He drew the woman with the bloody hand into a protective embrace.

“Would a great man allow his best minds to be given over to torture and the threat of a heretic’s fire?” he demanded. “For the mere crime of thinking bold thoughts? Or would he lead and protect them? And if others lacked the wisdom to follow of their own accord, would he not shepherd them? By force, if necessary? For their own good?”

“A great man doesn’t concern himself with his own greatness,” Aron replied firmly. “Empty minds, you say? I was more attentive to your lessons, Professor, and to your example, than you realize. You stand there, sheltering a colleague whose devotion feeds your vanity, and you leave a trail of dead and broken bodies in your wake to do it. And you presume to lecture me about the meaning of noblesse oblige? Whose needs do you truly serve, Lord of Westreach?”

Zomoran regarded him icily, but with a look of sudden wariness.

“You are clever, princeling,” he said. “More so than I gave you credit for. You’re stalling, trying to keep me talking and arguing, while you wait for reinforcements from the palace. Yes, I know that the Archmage is there. And as much as I would relish the opportunity to test myself against him, that is not my plan for today.”

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Read the first chapter, Rogue Wizard, at the saga’s World Anvil site, The World of Kalara. Or buy Prologue to Chaos, book one of the Sanctum of the Archmage Saga — available now from Andarian Publishing, and from all major e-book stores!

Here’s an excerpt from the book’s opening scene. It would have made for a great cover illustration, but I think that a simple cover and background will do for now.

Its appearance sharpened into focus as it stepped through the edge of the dome and into the city. It stood about twelve feet in height. It was man-shaped, walking upright on two legs, and wore what looked like a harness of red, leathered straps. A heavily muscled body of jet black skin gleamed as though wet in the bright morning sun.

Gigantic wings covered with black feathers shrouded it like a cloak. They came unfurled as it walked, reaching out to either side, and beat the air menacingly. As they did, they revealed two arms carrying an enormous axe with a viciously serrated edge. The axe shone with an evil red light.

The creature strode boldly across the amphitheater. It stopped halfway between the edge of the dome and the marketplace. It turned, surveying the city and its people. Then it unfurled its wings to their full extent, threw back its head, and laughed.

“I am Incanus Thad,” the demon’s voice boomed. “Captain of the Horde of Zomoran, the Black Magus. Behold me, mortals, and despair — and die!”