From the legendary author and creator of Drizzt Do’Urden comes the next installment in the New York Times bestselling DemonWars fantasy series, about the traitorous invasion by the Xoconai of the eastern realms of Corona. However, the heroes of the last war against their demon god may be forgotten, but they are not powerless. Treaties are discarded as the full invasion of the Xoncai has begun and war returns to Corona. Consolidating resistance on land in Behren and within the abbeys as a last stand against the golden warriors is the catalyst for the return of the most powerful gem-wielding witch the world has ever known. Yet, as the rumor of a witch of gemstone magic reaches the Xoconai they send a hunter, so brutal he is known as the Coyote, to find her in this novel set at the beginning of a new war in R. A. Salvatore’s bestselling world of heroic fantasy. As one of the fantasy genre’s most successful authors, R. A. Salvatore enjoys an ever-expanding and tremendously loyal following. His books regularly appear on The New York Times bestseller lists and have sold more than 30 million copies. Salvatore’s most recent original hardcover, The Two Swords , book three of The Hunter’s Blades Trilogy debuted at #1 on The Wall Street Journal bestseller list and at #4 on The New York Times bestseller list. His books have been translated into numerous foreign languages, including German, Italian, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Turkish, Croatian, Bulgarian, Yiddish, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Czech, and French. Chapter 1: Keridven CHAPTER 1 KERIDVEN The woman who called herself Keridven stared at the Xoconai man for a long while, trying to find her breath. From afar, to one who was not Xoconai, he looked much like the others, with his distinct facial markings, but up close, the subtleties of this one’s markings looked more like a sunset, or more particularly, like an artist’s rendition of one. His nose was the brightest of reds, glowing with vitality, but the transition to the blue skin at the base of his nose was less distinct, a fading glow of soft pink, even a blend thereafter, just a thin line, that hinted of yellow or green depending on the ambient light. His rich brown hair was longer than she remembered, wavy and thick, gathering regally about his shoulders like the furred collar of an Usgar leader or the mane of a grassland lion. Most of all, though, Keri saw the sadness in his bright eyes, eyes so light an amber that they sometimes appeared almost colorless, and other times picked up the bright colors of his Xoconai facial markings to appear rich and deep and soulful. Sadness was not an expression this one often showed, and now it came as a confirmation of the news he had just delivered: Tuolonatl, the most revered warrior among the Xoconai people, had been recalled to the west, never to return to these lands of Honce on the eastern third of the continent. Keri had heard the whispers that trouble had come to that region along the Masur Delaval and that their dear friend Tuolonatl was no longer serving as city sovereign of Palmaris, but she had assumed that the woman, so revered among the Xoconai military and civilians, had left by choice. But no, Tuolonatl had been deposed from her seat and recalled to the west. And there, so said the rumors, the great warrior, still only middle-aged, had retired. It was surprising news, but really, when Keri thought about it, her shock disappeared. Tuolonatl had been taken away because it was all unraveling. All their work, all their battles, all their compromises and diplomacy. All of it, unraveling. “Why?” she asked, though of course she knew the answer. The man, Ataquixt, shrugged. “We had a deal,” she pressed. “A treaty.” “ You made a deal,” he reminded. “With Tuolonatl. And the deal was to try. You both knew, as did all who witnessed the covenant that day after the fall of the god Scathmizzane, that your treaty was more aspirational than predictive.” “Tuolonatl wouldn’t abide by the commands of the augurs,” Keri said. “Yes, and the augurs here speak directly to Scathmizzane’s greatest priests in the west.” “Who forced her recall back to the west to prevent her from interfering in their plans for these eastern lands.” Ataquixt nodded. “So it would seem. Great Tuolonatl stood on principle, but the Xoconai leaders in the west are more interested in profit and power. They see a chance for conquest over the agreed-upon compromises and they take it. They know they will win.” “Because they used the good faith, even the undeserved generosity, of the people here to assemble their armies for their treachery.” “Does it matter?” Ataquixt asked. “Augur Necanhu is now the city sovereign of Palmaris.” “Augur?” she replied, rubbing her face. She didn’t know the man, but she felt as if she didn’t have to, considering his title. In Xoconai society, the augurs served as the religious leaders, while the position of city sovereign was traditionall