Shadowflight

"Shadowflight" (2004) is an independent fantasy novel written by Richard W. Abel (Temple, TX), born February 2, 1975 and published through Xlibris in 2004 (ISBN 1413439160).

Plot summary

Terrible forces have come to bear during an age fraught with warring kingdoms and intricate deceptions, forcing the world of Jegathar to question its starkly defined concepts of good and evil. The Sentients, a race of god-like beings, have for centuries been haggling over the fates of mortals from their celestial stronghold beyond the Severance, an unseen boundary that divides the earthly world from the divine.

Galdrin Fellgrace is commander of the Wrathfarrow, soldiers who fight for the kingdom of Wrent, and the mightiest army ever to tread the firmament. When he uncovers a design meant to divide the peaceful nations of the world, and incite hatred for the elven people of the Muryan’Dai, he begins doubting the things he has always held dear. When he learns that the Sentients have begun manipulating the worldling races like pieces on a game board, he must act upon what he suspects before a situation he cannot understand threatens to bring the world to ruin. As it becomes clear that the destinies of the Sentients and Jegathar are interwoven, Galdrin and those around him begin to forge their own paths and create their own truths.

Levisk the Unmaker is one of the Apostate, rogue Sentients who have defied the will of the Weaver of the Tapestry. Having taken on the flesh in mortal form he schemes to recover the Arms of Authority, arcane keys that can be used to access the greatest power creation has ever known: the Well of Making. And it is the bearers of the keys, the Armwielders, whom Levisk’s agents must hunt down and destroy before he can break the seal on the Well. As the struggle to control its power escalates, new alliances are formed, friendships are torn asunder, and old grievances are revisited.

But a mystifying stranger who confounds all those he encounters holds the secret to Jegathar’s history. This man, called the Walker, bound against his will to Levisk by an ancient oath, will ultimately bring about both victory and disaster. Through his mastery of a power as awesome as that of the Well itself, the Walker travels unseen through a realm devoid of light and substance called the Everdark, using his black gift in the Unmaker’s name to tear aside the veils of time and rend the fabric of the Tapestry. That gift is called Shadowflight.