The future depends on a runaway prince harnessing the magic awakening in young men and women distrustful of their own gifts, in this "epic fantasy with stunning world-building, dramatic characterization, a suspenseful and surprising plot, and a strong thread of fantastical elements" (Reader's Favorite) from author L.H. Leonard. A master player convinces the pawn the move is its own. Nigel has been at the game longer than most, but lately kings, queens, and bishops keep turning into rogue knights. It's damned inconvenient of them, considering the world is about to end again. The Watchers will soon declare this cycle over, as they have so many cycles before, shrugging off yet another rise and fall of humankind, and giving the dragons another turn at dominion. Brynmohr is King of the Firstborn, and Twelvestones is the last bastion of a once-mighty nene dynasty. As the first people to walk the earth, Firstborn consider dominion over mankind their birthright. Half-breeds between their kinds had always been sterile, but the daughters born of Brynmohr's irrational affection for a woman are shifting the Patterns. He must face the unthinkable choice of turning his daughters into rootstock for the sake of Firstborn survival. Sethlyan and Isobel are unware they're expendable pawns in an increasingly complex game. Sethlyan is the second son of the Second of Aleron. He's grown tired of hearing he and his friends are the prophesied Storm Hawks, returned to free Rhynn from centuries of oppression. Seth knows better. So do the voices whispering inside his head. Isobel survived the Beast of Monaughty. Her father is dead, but his brutality haunts her. When her brother, the Rhi'Iverach, forges an alliance with the Hawks of Aleron, Isobel dutifully marries a stranger named Sethlyan. Her trust is hard to earn. His is hard to give. A deadly attack leaves them with a telepathic bond neither wants, and awakens mindgifts they struggle to accept. When rebellion brings them to the precipice of war, they must choose between hiding their secrets or using their mindgifts, fighting their oppressors or sacrificing freedom for peace. Legend of the Storm Hawks is the prelude to the Rootstock Saga. Set on a future Earth where our own history echoes from the shadows, the tale is filled with political intrigue, inner demons, swords, and magic. Of course, no epic is complete without a few dragons.