Beyond the Veil

When a Rankan messenger is killed in Tyse, Randal, the Stepsons' pet wizard, must read the dead man's mind. What Randal learns brings Niko back from the Misty Isles of Bandara and forces Tempus and his Stepsons into an alliance unholy even by Tysian standards with Cime the mage killer; Askelon, lord of dreams; and the Rankan Third Commando, a fighting unit so cruel it gives even the Stepsons pause. Together with Tempus' long-lost daughter, and his elemental lover, Jihan, they must venture beyond accursed Wizardwall itself to battle the Mygdonian Alliance and Roxane's Nisibisi witchcraft. The intrepid Band (whose central core is Tempus' beloved Stepsons) must figure out who among the Tysian locals, Rankan soldiers, and Mygdonian defectors they can trust, before it's too late. But in a world where a witch can turn a warrior into a flea, where gemstone frogs can rain from the sky, where no one is ever what he seems, where loyalties are ensured by curses, wizardry, and the favor of warring gods, only the immortal Tempus can guarantee an army's success. And not even Tempus can tell the good guys from the bad in Tyse, where everyone plays both ends against the middle, or if the price of victory against Mygdonia will be his Stepsons' souls in their battle beyond the veil, the third full-length novel in Janet Morris' Sacred Band book series. Set in Tyse, a town so mean and magic-ridden as to make Sanctuary seem like a singles bar, "Beyond the Veil" features Tempus, Thieves' World's most powerful and misunderstood character and introduces Kama, his warrior daughter, as well as Ranke's deservedly infamous shock troops, the 3rd Commando.