In The Shadow of His Wings, a miner's son, Lukan Barra, joins forces with the beautiful and unpredictable Rui Ravenstone, his brother's former lover, in an attempt to be the first to reach the lair of the Erseiyr, the god and monster whose great wings shadow the future of the land, and whose fate becomes linked with Lukan's in a strange and wonderful bonding. The first book in the Six Kingdoms series, The Shadow of His Wings is set at the end of the first millennium in Myrcia. The novel opens with the estrangement of Lukan from his criminal brother, Vearus, who returns from exile with the secret of healing and transformation of the flesh that gains him power second only to Myrcia's despotic ruler, the Sanctor Grouin. An invading army from Skarria is threatening the capitol city of Castlecliff and Lukan is press-ganged into military service, barely surviving the battle of Dawn Horse Hill which only temporarily halts the Skarrian onslaught. Grouin declares the throne open to anyone who can secure the intervention of the fabled Erseiyr - the immortal winged creature worshipped and feared by Myrcians - who lives in a mountaintop cavern filled with tribute of ages past. Lukan, thrown unjustly into prison after the battle and then mysteriously released, resolves to claim the prize of the throne.
