The farmers there build with stone and grow in stone, and they might even be made of stone themselves, they are so sturdy in the face of the long, bitter winter that comes howling down at them from the mountains.

Marks weaves a complex tale of political and personal struggle, set in a world whose concerns are as familiar as todayвЂ™s headlines.Д¬hapter One In the border regions of northern Shaftal, the peaks of the mountains loom over hardscrabble farmholds. If they can find a way to work together, they may just change the course of history.

Separately, all they can do is watch as Shaftal falls from prosperity into lawlessness and famine. ZANJA THE DIPLOMAT: the sole survivor of a slaughtered tribe, her fire powers bringing the gift of prescience KARIS THE METALSMITH: a half-blood giant whose earth powers can heal and create, but only when she can muster the strength to hold off her addiction to a deadly drug that suspends her will. The Shaftali have mobilized a guerrilla army against these marauders, but every year the cost of resistance grows, leaving ShaftalвЂ™s fate in the hands of three people:Д®MIL THE SHAFTALI PALADIN: an officer and a scholar whose elemental powers make him an excellent judge of character ShaftalвЂ™s ruling house has been scattered and destroyed by the invading Sainnites. The earth witch who ruled Shaftal is dead, leaving no heir. These elements have sustained the peaceful people of Shaftal for generations, with their subtle powers of healing, truth, joy, and intuition.

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