Valor (the Faithful and the Fallen, #2)

The second installment in The Faithful and the Fallen epic fantasy series takes place across the Banished Lands, a world shaped by an ancient war between the god Elyon and the fallen angel Asroth. A prophecy foretells a God-War in which two human champions, the Bright Star and the Black Sun, will serve as avatars for these opposing forces.

The novel opens in Murias, the mountain stronghold of the Benothi, one of the surviving giant clans. Uthas, a giant secretly allied with Queen Rhin of Cambren, visits the cauldron, one of the Seven Treasures, ancient artifacts of immense power. Nemain, Queen of the Benothi, refuses his urging to reclaim lost lands, insisting the Benothi must guard the cauldron. Ethlinn, a Benothi seer who receives prophetic visions, warns that the Kadoshim, Asroth's fallen angels, draw closer and the Black Sun is coming for the cauldron.

In the aftermath of Dun Carreg's fall, Cywen, sister of the young warrior Corban, wakes among the dead and discovers her father Thannon's corpse. She realizes her mother Gwenith, brother Corban, and the stablemaster Gar escaped without her. Nathair, King of Tenebral, and his counsellor Calidus later question her about Corban. Cywen discovers and frees Pendathran, the former battlechief imprisoned by the traitor Evnis, sending him toward the resistance in Ardan's marshes.

At the giant stronghold of Haldis in Forn Forest, Veradis, Nathair's first-sword, witnesses Calidus order the Jehar, a holy warrior order from Tarbesh, to slaughter giant children. Calidus reveals they have recovered the starstone axe, another of the Seven Treasures. King Romar of Isiltir and his Gadrai, Romar's elite household warriors, die in the tunnels; evidence suggests the giant Alcyon killed Romar under Calidus' direction.

Maquin, a Gadrai warrior, witnesses Kastell's cousin Jael murder his lord Kastell and swears a blood-oath of vengeance. He escapes Haldis with Orgull, the Gadrai captain, and Tahir, a fellow Gadrai warrior. They warn King Braster of Helveth, but Braster's battlechief Lothar murders Braster, framing the Gadrai. The three flee into Forn Forest. Later, Veradis encounters Maquin while tracking the survivors and lets his friend escape.

Corban, aboard a fisher-boat with Edana, the fugitive Princess of Ardan, and her guardian Halion, grieves his father and sister, both believed dead. The group lands in Cambren, and Edana decides to flee to Domhain, where Halion's father Eremon is king. Gwenith and Gar reveal that Corban is the Seren Disglair, the Bright Star, Elyon's chosen avatar, and urge him to travel to Drassil, the hidden fortress in Forn Forest. Corban refuses, insisting he is oath-bound to Edana.

Evnis secures Nathair's patronage by revealing Rhin's manipulations and the cauldron's location. Using his book of earth power, an ancient elemental magic, he arranges a magical communication between Nathair and Rhin, forging their alliance. Meanwhile, Lykos, Lord of the Vin Thalun, a pirate nation, meets Fidele, Nathair's mother and regent of Tenebral. She confronts him about fighting pits where captives die in combat; he agrees publicly to end them but continues in secret.

When scouts discover the group in Cambren, Camlin, a former outlaw loyal to Edana, leads an ambush. Corban fights alongside Gar, his friend Dath, and Storm, his wolven, a large wolf-like beast. More warriors destroy their boat, and Dath's father Mordwyr dies in the shore battle. The group travels overland toward Domhain. During the flight, Gar reveals his identity as Garisan ben Tukul of the Jehar, sent to protect the Bright Star.

At Drassil, Tukul, leader of the Jehar warriors, learns from Meical, formerly King Aquilus' counsellor, that the Seren Disglair is in danger. Tukul's warriors march to find the Bright Star. Meanwhile, Maquin, Orgull, and Tahir warn Lady Gerda, Romar's estranged wife, at Dun Kellen that Jael murdered King Romar. Jael besieges the fortress, and Lykos' war-galleys turn the battle. Tahir escapes with Haelan, Romar's young heir, through a secret tunnel. Lykos captures Maquin and Orgull, branding Maquin as a slave.

At Dun Carreg, Nathair's inner circle convenes. Calidus reveals the cauldron can bridge the Otherworld and the world of flesh, supposedly bringing the Ben-Elim, Elyon's angelic warriors, to fight alongside them. He connects details about Corban to a prophecy by Halvor, an ancient giant seer, concluding Corban may be the Black Sun. Nathair and Rhin ally formally: Nathair offers Veradis and his eagle-guard, Nathair's elite warriors, to help conquer Domhain while Nathair pursues the cauldron. Rhin privately sends her huntsman Braith to capture Corban and kill Edana. In the subsequent battle, Evnis betrays Owain, King of Narvon, and Veradis' shield wall routs Owain's forces. Owain refuses exile and is beheaded.

Corban's group endures a harrowing mountain crossing into Domhain. Heb, the old loremaster teaching Corban the earth power, an ancient elemental magic, dies fighting a Benothi giant; Corban instinctively uses the earth power for the first time. At Dun Taras, Eremon receives Edana, but his wife Roisin demands a betrothal between Edana and Roisin's son Lorcan as the price for military support. When Rhin invades Domhain, Corban's companions conduct night raids wearing wolven pelts and iron claws, but Veradis' shield wall routs Domhain's forces in pitched battle.

From prisoners, Corban learns Cywen is alive, travelling north with Nathair. He sets off to rescue her with a small group including Gar and Coralen, Halion's half-sister. Braith captures Corban near Dun Vaner, Rhin's stronghold in Cambren. Rhin performs a blood ritual transporting them to the Otherworld, where Asroth, a great winged creature, orders Corban killed. Ben-Elim warriors rescue him. Corban's companions scale the fortress walls. Inside, Gar reunites with his father Tukul, and Meical, revealed as a Ben-Elim, joins them. Conall, Rhin's first-sword and Coralen's half-brother, hesitates when Coralen begs him not to kill Corban, and flees with Rhin.

Maquin and Orgull endure months in fighting pits on the Three Islands, killing opponents to survive. At Dun Taras, Maeve, one of Eremon's bastard daughters, assassinates King Eremon. Edana and her companions escape through a tunnel. In a desperate coastal battle, Conall captures Halion and kills Edana's cousin Marrock. Edana sails away and sends word to Corban. In Tenebral, Lykos uses a magical clay effigy to enslave Fidele and consolidates Vin Thalun control over the capital Jerolin.

Nathair's forces reach Murias. Nemain recognizes Calidus as a servant of darkness, but Uthas' shieldman Salach kills her from behind, and Uthas opens the gates. Inside, Calidus performs a ritual at the cauldron: Dark energy impales hundreds of kneeling Jehar. What enters them are not Ben-Elim but Kadoshim, who display superhuman strength and kill indiscriminately.

Corban's group fights into the cauldron chamber, where he reunites with Cywen. Balur One-Eye, an ancient Benothi warrior, seizes the starstone axe from the chamber, disrupting the cauldron's spell. The group discovers that beheading possessed warriors banishes the Kadoshim spirits. Calidus, revealed as a Kadoshim himself, attacks Corban. Gar and Corban's companion Farrell intervene but are thrown aside. Gwenith charges Calidus with knives and a spear; he delivers a fatal blow, and she dies in Corban's and Cywen's arms. Meical engages Calidus, buying time for the group to flee.

In a parallel climax at Jerolin, Maquin is ordered to fight Orgull in the arena on Lykos' wedding day. Maquin refuses. Orgull attacks the guards, sparking an eagle-guard uprising. Maquin crushes the clay effigy controlling Fidele; freed, she stabs Lykos. Orgull dies in the fighting, and Lykos escapes wounded. Maquin leads Fidele to safety.

Corban's surviving companions escape Murias with hundreds of Jehar and Benothi giants. They build a cairn over Gwenith's body. Corban collapses with grief, then rises and looks back at Murias, resolving that Calidus, Nathair, and the Kadoshim must be stopped.