Defense of the Land

Can a beautiful, goody-two-shoes paladin knowingly consort with an assassin? That depends on how desperate the assassin is...
Jaramiile throws her sword in with five others to stop the scourge of evil that has been reborn in The Land. Yet can she face her god when one of them admits to being hired to slay another? What if that other is her sworn enemy? He is very good at what he does, and very handsome...

This is Book Two of the Defense of The Land series, and the sixth book in the Valdaar's Fist saga. The friends one keeps. How can those dedicated in the service to their god possibly look their deity in the eye knowing they have made alliances with those in the service of another? Twists and turns. Vance Pumphrey has become a master at surprising us with the unexpected. Yet this new volume throws alliances, debts, servitude and relationships into a quandary of tangled webs and unforeseen outcomes. Hang on to your butts, it’s about to get deep! Can Jaramiile suppress her sworn teachings and lead this rag-tag band adepts of Praxaar and mercenaries into the face of near certain death? Or, possibly more importantly, can she lead them away when required? Overmatched and outnumbered at every turn, can Jaramiile suppress her own doubts enough to lead friends and foes alike into a maelstrom from which none of them may return? In Vance Pumphrey’s books, things are seldom what they seem. The scourge of evil has many faces, some of which appear to serve either side of the fence. Or none…

Have you sorted out who is good and who is evil yet? Neither have those in the third installment of the Defense of The Land series. The balance of power has shifted like the sands in an hourglass. Those who worship the Dark God, Valdaar, gain strength daily while those who support the God of Light, Praxaar, face uncertainty as to their convictions.
Now the shifting sands grow ever shorter. Those Jaramiile must stop have all but one piece of the puzzle required to return their god to The Land. That must not be allowed to happen.
Yet doubt weaves its tendrils into Jaramiile’s very being, augmented by forbidden visions of a man she has met only once. And the beautiful sorceress Shaarna knows that her brother’s abilities far exceed her own, but her resolve to stop him from raising the Dark God remains undaunted. Complications arise as similar doubts boil to the surface of her soul. Does she even want to stop him? Why?

Who is Good? What is Evil? Is there really a difference…