Orphaned Tristan slaves at his uncle’s forge and longs to erase the dishonor his wastrel father and harlot mother bequeathed him. When a squire discovers that Tristan is the prince’s exact double, the fate of Erde falls heavily upon him. Reluctantly, Tristan agrees to masquerade as the savior prince, lead a chosen Company of nobles, and seek the Scepter across the sea.

Following ancient clues, they trek into danger.

Before riding from his forest village, Tristan tells his life-long friend Caitir she must stay behind. But this intrepid lass stows aboard the departing ship. Cryptic texts hint that the Scepter is guarded in a castle beyond the Fell Bogs, haunt of mesmerizing marsh spirits. It’s even more distant than the oppressive dark forest of the Waldreich, reign of misshapen wolves and the treacherous, treetop-dwelling Naz. Into such dangers, Tristan’s Company must follow a trail of ancient clues.

But the arch druid vows to stop them.

In service to the Deamhan Lord, the arch druid Faolukan pledges to stop the group with all the magic, sorcery, and monsters at his command, including Tristan’s worst fear—a dark, subterranean cavern where stalks the creature of shadows, the barghest whose name is Thrag.

But how can a mere blacksmith’s nephew and a cooper’s daughter ever hope to defeat the most powerful sorcerer the world has ever known? How can anyone stop the coming darkness?

This is Mark E. Fisher ‘s first book of the Scepter and Tower high fantasy trilogy.

After their battle with the arch druid Faolukan, the Company seeks respite in the high mountain refuge of Ard Cúl Dín. But when priests translate the scroll Tristan retrieved from Schwarzburg’s subterranean maze, they discover a secret lost for millennia—the nature of Elyon’s second legacy to the world.

Covetous Priests. Attacking Armies.

Coveting the incredible power of Elyon’s first gift, the priests seize the Scepter. Days later, as trebuchets pound the high walls, Faolukan’s armies swarm the slopes below the refuge. With the city’s fall imminent, one priest steals the Scepter and flees into the mountains.

As enemy armies close in, Caitir, Tristan’s newly betrothed, Ewan, his squire, and Machar, the Cloaked Rider, join him to again seek the Scepter before they can undertake the second journey. Only when both of Elyon’s bequests to the world are secure in Ewhain Macha’s Tower will light and hope return to Ériu.

An Impossible Journey Into The Druid’s Lair.

Blocking their way is an army of shapeshifters and soldiers mesmerized by the Deamhan Lord’s spells. Somewhere beyond the distant Sfarsit Mountains lies their goal—in dread Drochtar, a bleak land where Faolukan, the arch druid, reigns with magic and terror. In that foul realm, all serve the Deamhan Lord, a spirit of darkness whose presence strips even the bravest warrior of all courage and hope. Thus begins a second journey even more difficult than the first.

Ancient Horrors and The Butcher Of Burgundia.

Only by returning the Scepter and Augury to the Tower can Tristan defeat the Deamhan Lord and end the darkness threatening to engulf the world. Before him lie an ancient horror released by the arch druid, the fatal enchantments of the red tent, a Cthyllin ice giant, and the arch druid’s ruthless ally—Gundovald, the Butcher of Burgundia.

A Race To The Tower.

But the arch druid Faolukan has built a great fleet in Fjernshavn, and it’s a race to return home before enemy ships disembark their foul hordes on Ériu’s distant shores and destroy the Tower. Faolukan and Gundovald serve a Deamhan Lord who wants not to conquer, but to burn, destroy, and crush that fair country under the boots of his bespelled soldiers and shapeshifters.

If Faolukan destroys the Tower before Tristan arrives with the Scepter—all is lost.

And the darkness wins.