145,954 Words

An epic story of freedom, choice, and love In a world bursting with powerful elemental magic and mysterious dragons, the pursuit of freedom trumps all other causes. Imprisoned without explanation, the Air-blessed young woman Lyra finds herself thrown into the deadly Tahay mines, a nightmarish hell from which she must escape. Pain and fear dominate the prison, but she finds solace and protection in two men, each with their own mysterious motives for escape. Suffocated by the confines of his Elder Council, Prince Reylin of Mirat struggles for independence and legitimacy over his own crown. Ever since the Great Fire that killed his parents, the prince has waited for the throne that should have been his, but power is difficult to relinquish for his regent lords. Even with impending violence and an insidious sickness at their borders, they resist his contention for the right to make difficult decisions. Taiuki, thirdborn and second daughter of the underwater myrkingdom of Shiggo, fights passionately to determine her own destiny, rather than be married off to a human prince. Trained for military command, her only desire is to protect her people and her family from their enemies, the vicious Jijiton-jin who advance on their waters. At the whim of her Queen Regent mother, she is demoted, embarrassed, and more alone than ever before. "Liberation" is the first volume of the adult high fantasy "The Keepers of Midgate," a story of friendship and love, the search for understanding and acceptance, and the heartbreak of loss, set in a world pulsing with magic, violence, and a spreading plague of madness. Dragons, once a common ally, have retreated to the dark recesses of the world, rejected by fickle humanity. As Midgate falls into chaos, only a blessed few have the power to set the world right. Will they find their way through the darkness and overcome the tragedies of their past? Or will they remain prisoners of the fear and anger that fuels the madness in the world?