Philippa Ballantine

As human colonies are obliterated by the dark pathogen and hideous monstrosities proliferate, a family of scavengers find an amnesiac who may hold the secrets to the forces tearing apart the galaxy.Life amongst the stars is brutal. Human settlements are being destroyed by a dark pathogen launched from mysterious ships, which turns whole populations into hordes of ravenous monsters. And no one knows what happened to the Jackals, the elite cadre of soldiers hunting down the perpetrators of these atrocities.When a family of scavengers recover the amnesiac Mae Hendricks amongst the wreckage of an unidentified ship, they bring a world of pain down on themselves and the civilians of Guelph Station. Mae doesn't know where she is from or her true nature, nor that she is being hunted by vicious adversaries.Mae's past could finally reveal the conspiracy, but may well unleash a tide of snarling terrors...

A gargantuan, horseshoe-shaped ship appears over the mining planet Shanmen, unleashing a black rain of death that creates Xenomorph-like monsters worse than the darkest of nightmares. As war rages among the colonies, a huge ship appears over the UPP mining planet Shanmen, unleashing a black rain of death that yields hideous transformations. Monstrous creatures swarm the colony, and rescue is too far away to arrive in time. The survivors are forced to seek shelter in the labyrinth of tunnels deep beneath the surface. Already the grave to so many, these shafts may become the final resting place for all who remain. Hope appears in the form of the vessel Righteous Fury. It carries the Jackals-an elite mix of Colonial Marines led by Zula Hendricks. Faced with a horde of grotesque mutations, the Jackals seek to rescue the few survivors from the depths of the planet. But have they arrived too late? BONUS FEATURE: An exclusive new game scenario based on the massively popular, award-winning Alien RPG from Free League Publishing!

The Deacons of the Order are all that stand between the wicked spirits of the Otherside and the innocent citizens of the Empire. They are sworn to protect humanity, even when they cannot protect themselves...After the Razing of the Order, Sorcha Faris, one of the most powerful Deacons, is struggling to regain control of the runes she once wielded. The Deacons are needed more desperately than ever. The barrier between the world of the living and the world of the dead is weakening, and the Emperor has abandoned his throne, seeking to destroy those he feels have betrayed him.Though she is haunted by the terrible truth of her past, Sorcha must lead the charge against the gathering hordes of geists seeking to cross into the Empire. But to do so, she will need to manipulate powers beyond her understanding-powers that may prove to be her undoing...

In the Empire of Arkaym, the Order of Deacons protects and shelters the citizens from the attacks of the unliving. All are sworn to fight the evil forces of the geists-and to keep the world safe from the power of the Otherside... Although she is one of the most powerful Deacons in the Order, Sorcha Faris is still unable to move or speak after her last battle. Even her partner, Merrick Chambers, cannot reach her through their shared Bond. Yet there are those who still fear Sorcha and the mystery of her hidden past. Meanwhile, Merrick has been asked to investigate a new member of the Emperor's Court. But when Sorcha is abducted by men seeking Raed Rossin, the shapeshifting rival to the throne, Merrick must choose where his loyalties lie.

She might be most powerful Deacon, but Sorcha Faris has a tarnished reputation to overcome. Frustratingly, her superiors have her and her partner, Merrick Chambers, chasing down rumors of geists rather than the real thing. So they jump at the chance to escort a delegation going south for negotiations. Their destination, the distant city of Orinthal, is plagued by a string of murders, but when Sorcha and Merrick investigate the mystery they find a hungry and cunning geist at the end of it. Disguised as a vengeful goddess wrapped in magic, she is bent on destroying her enemies, including the Rossin hidden inside Sorcha

On the back of the dragon Wahirangi, Finn the Fox flees the world he has known. As he sets out to find the brother he never knew of, he still holds in his heart the memory of the Hunter. He has denied his love for her, but he cannot deny it forever. In the halls of the Last Believers, Talyn begins to uncover her own mysteries, but her lust for the death of the Caisah is still strong and clouds her vision. She must choose her path, as the Seer of her people or as the assassin of the overlord. Meanwhile, Byre, Talyn's brother, must venture into the fiery world of the Kindred, to rebuild the pact that his ancestors made. He will risk everything he is as he forms a new pact that will change his people forever. Dragons and myths will be reborn, as the Hunter and her Fox face each other once more.

The undead are here and only the Deacons stand in their way.The Order of the Deacons, stand as protectors of the Empire, guardians against ghost possession, sentinels warding off the malevolent haunting of the geists.Sorcha Faris, the most powerful deacon of the Order, finds herself thrust into an unwanted partnership with a total novice, Merrick Chambers. That's bad enough, but when they are dispatched to an isolated village to counter a surge of violent geist activity, they find their fate bound with Raed Rossin. Shapeshifter and Pretender to the Imperial throne he bears a terrible curse which endangers them all.As they investigate, the strange settlement is reveled to be haunted by a undead creature more predatory and horrifying than any encountered before. Together they quest to uncover the mystery of twisted rituals passed down through the dark reaches of history intent on striking at the heart of the Empire.Can three powerful and troubled people discover a way to work together to save the citizens and themselves?

The world of Conhaero is in constant flux; mountains can change to plains and then to lakes in a matter of weeks. It is a place where only the most adaptable can survive, but also a refuge to people from other worlds seeking peace-but nothing is as it should be. The native protectors of the realm, the Vaerli are scattered and cursed. The Kindred, the spirits of the land, who once held a pact with them, have disappeared.Now the Caisah, and his own alien magic rule the land, controlling the peoples and hunting the Vaerli. He also holds the leash of Talyn.With the promise of freedom for her people, Talyn has become his hunter. She seeks out her enemies because she thinks it is the only way to save the remainder of the Vaerli, but she is a wreck of a once-proud person.When she is given the task of hunting down Finn, she cannot know the changes that will follow. As teller of tales, Finn carries his own dreadful secret and has his own mission.For the Kindred are finally moving, and the Vaerli have a chance at redemption and freedom. If Talyn and Finn can find a way back through the past, and into the very heart of this shifting land, then perhaps old wounds can be healed, and the Caisah defeated. Maybe Conhaero and its people can find a new kind of peace.================================This edition now includes the never before published short story, Dragonsoul, set before the events of Hunter and Fox.================================

P G Holyfield. Award-nominated podcaster. Award-winning author. Voice talent. Friend. Father. Patrick was all these things and so much more to the people featured in this volume. His tragic loss to cancer was not only felt within his family and friends in North Carolina, but coast-to-coast from Virginia to California, and around the world from England to New Zealand. He was a voice we knew, a friend we loved, and this collection of stories - many of them inspired by, featuring, and written by P G Holyfield - stands as his legacy. He touched us all, and we will miss him. All proceeds from this anthology will go to the Patrick Holyfield's Childrens Trust, benefiting his daughters. Featuring stories from PG Holyfield, Jared Axelrod, K T Bryski, Jack Mangan, Nathan Lowell, Chris Lester, Tee Morris, Scott Roche, Allen Sale, Christiana Ellis, Kate Sherrod, and Philippa Ballantine

From the writer of Books of the Order and the co-author of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences comes a new historical fantasy about two lovers separated by magic and circumstance.Never alone. Never apart.They are the Awakened, a unique breed of people in a remote corner of the world. Faith is one of these gifted carriers of the Seraphim; and in return of her unconditional love, her Seraphim grants her powers of incredible potential.But not all carriers embrace their blessing.Jack loathes being an Awakened. He never asked for it, his Seraphim keeping him alive even in spite of his desire to die. Not even a great war could rid him of this curse.Now a magician of incredible ability and a walking dead man must find a way to work together to save the Seraphim. Someone covets the power of the Awakened, and will not stop until that power belongs to him.

The Fey are gone...and with them all mystery and magic.At least that is how it seems to all who live in the human world.Penheram is a quaint, sleepy English village where people go to escape the modern world. Which is exactly what failing writer, Ella, sometimes called mouse, is doing. Yet everything changes with the arrival of an unusual shapeshifting thief.Meanwhile in far off New Zealand a child grows into a world-changing woman, but such power comes with great risk to all around her.As the two women's stories draw to a close, everyone will learn that not all that is lose is gone, and no secret can be kept forever.