Magic's Price by Mercedes Lackey

 

Magic's Price by Mercedes Lackey - 351 pages

Last Herald Mage #3

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Valdemar—the once-peaceful kingdom protected by the magic of its Herald-Mages—is now besieged on all fronts. The king lies near death, the neighboring land of Karse wages a relentless war against Valdemar, and the forces led by a master of dark forbidden magic are massing to strike the final devastating blow against the kingdom.
 
And Vanyel, the most powerful Herald-Mage Valdemar has even known, has become the primary target of the evil which is reaching out to poison all the land.
 
With all his fellow mages slain, Vanyel alone remains to defend his people against the dark master’s army. Yet a dream vision has revealed to Vanyel the fate which awaits should he and his Companion Yfandes take up the dark master’s challenge.
 
And if either Vanyel or Yfandes falters, the dream will become a horrifying reality in which both Valdemar and its last Herald-Mage must pay the ultimate price.

Magic's Promise by Mercedes Lackey

 

Magic's Promise by Mercedes Lackey - 320 pages

Last Herald Mage #2

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Wild magic is taking its toll on the land. Many Heralds and Herald-Mages have died fighting to preserve the peace. Even Vanyel, the most powerful of the Herald-Mages is almost at the end of his strength, in need of a respite from the dual threats of war and dark magic.

But for Vanyel, there can be no rest. Not when his Companion, Yfandes, receives a summons which can’t be ignored—a desperate cry of a magical holocaust in the neighboring kingdom. Almost overwhelmed by the devastations they discover there, Herald-Mage and Companion must try to unravel this tragic mystery.

Is the young Prince Tashir, a newly Chosen Herald who can’t control his magic, responsible for the destruction? Or is Tashir a pawn in a deeper, more deadly game—and, if so, will Vanyel be able to find and defeat the true destroyer before this master of dark powers can strike again?