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Elin's family has an important responsibility: caring for the fearsome water serpents that form the core of their kingdom's army. So when some of the creatures mysteriously die, Elin's mother is sentenced to death as punishment. With her last breath, she manages to send her daughter to safety.

Alone and far from home, Elin soon discovers that she can communicate with both the terrifying water serpents and the majestic flying beasts that guard her queen. This skill gives her great power, but it also involves her in deadly plots that could cost her life. Can she save herself and prevent her beloved beasts from being used as tools of war? Or is there no escaping the terrible battles to come?

Ten years after the fateful clash between two opposing sides of the Divine Kingdom of Lyoza, Elin lives a peaceful life with her family. She tries to stay as far away from her past as possible?the girl who communicated with creatures and befriended a Royal Beast wants no part in the power struggles of humans. But when Elin is called upon to investigate a mysterious illness that's stricken the Toda, she uncovers a startling plot?one that could threaten everything she holds dear.

In this thrilling sequel to The Beast Player, Elin must confront her destiny and heed the dire warnings of history. Is a final battle between the Toda and the Royal Beasts inevitable? And will it mean destruction for all?

You've never read a fantasy novel like this one! The deep well of Japanese myth merges with the Western fantasy tradition for a novel that's as rich in place and culture as it is hard to put down.

Balsa was a wanderer and warrior for hire. Then she rescued a boy flung into a raging river -- and at that moment, her destiny changed. Now Balsa must protect the boy -- the Prince Chagum -- on his quest to deliver the great egg of the water spirit to its source in the sea. As they travel across the land of Yogo and discover the truth about the spirit, they find themselves hunted by two deadly enemies: the egg-eating monster Rarunga . . . and the prince's own father.

In the marvelous sequel to the novel MORIBITO: GUARDIAN OF THE SPIRIT, Balsa returns to her native land to fight a corrupt ruler and face her own demons.

Balsa returns to her native Kanbal to clear the name of Jiguro, her dear mentor, who saved her life when she was six years old. But what should be a visit of truth and reconciliation becomes a fight for her life when she learns that Jiguro had been a member of King Rogsam's personal bodyguard. After Jiguro fled Kanbal with her, Rogsam sent the other bodyguards after them one by one--Jiguro's best friends, whom he had to kill to protect Balsa. Now, with the help of two Kanbalese children, Balsa must unwind the conspiracy surrounding Jiguro and the mystery of the Guardians of the Dark.

Van, a former soldier made slave, toils away endlessly in a salt mine. An unexpected chance at liberation drops in his lap when a pack of infected dogs passes through, killing everyone but him and a young girl he names Yuna. Van hopes to make a peaceful life for them both now that they've escaped. However, the disease that cleared out the mine begins to spread, endangering the nation and placing Van and his ward at the center of a conflict greater than any the world has ever seen.

Thus begins a tale of ecosystems, viruses, and cultural relations.

Van's chase to rescue the kidnapped Yuna leads him to the Ahfal Oma, the People of the Fire Horse. They reveal that the sickness plaguing Aquafa is no random resurgence but a carefully orchestrated revenge plan, and they want the leader of the Lone Antlers to join. Van can't abide a destructive quest that threatens all of Aquafa, but he's still only one man. And how can a single man stop a disease--especially one that already lives within him?