Fifty years ago, the nightwalkers appeared, creatures of shadow and darkness, thirsting for blood and death. Thousands died and the kingdom of Entarna was brought to its knees. Then the Chosen came, six men and women endowed with powers by Amedan, the God of Fire and Light. The Chosen joined with the kingdom’s armies and together they managed to defeat the night’s creatures. At least for a time. Alesh, servant to Chosen Olliman, the greatest of Amedan’s priests, knows well what the darkness holds. He saw it, as a child, when his father and mother were killed, and he was left with a blackened, festering scar that refuses to heal. The day wanes and the night comes again, but when those chosen to protect the kingdom are unable or unwilling to help, when the fellowships of the past have crumbled, it is left to an orphaned servant—a man many believe to be cursed—to stand against the rising darkness.

The only thing rarer than a homicidal chicken is a hero who lives to see retirement. Dannen Ateran spent the week following his battle with the necromancer and his undead army doing exactly what he enjoyed most-nothing. Certainly nothing heroic. At least nothing more heroic than lying in Claire's bed and reveling in the feeling-depressingly unfamiliar-of having no one try to kill him. At least, that was, until Perandius summoned him to the land of the gods once more with a mission to rescue a shepherd boy foretold of in prophecy. Dannen didn't care for shepherd boys-the fools never could seem to stay out of trouble-and he cared even less for prophecies. But considering that the messenger god confiscated the Divining Stone-which Dannen had given to Claire as a necklace and which she loved, likely more than him-he decided it might be best to leave Talinseh for a time. And so Dannen, hoping to keep breathing a bit longer, sets off to the south with his companions. But that was the thing about fleeing from death-no matter how fast a man runs, it's always ahead of him. And that death, this time, might well come in the form of wererats, plague-ridden beasts infesting the sewers of a port city or, perhaps, in an ancient sea monster and, if all else fails, there's always the group of assassins hunting them. Plenty of ways to die and die horribly but then, Dannen had lived long enough to know that if a man went looking for ways to die, he never had to look very far. Probably it's Prophecy is the third installment in the humorous, action-packed epic fantasy series, The Antiheroes. It is a story of magic and magical beasts, of assassins and blades in the dark, of monsters out of myth and men out of their minds. And one unfortunate, reluctant hero, known as the Bloody Butcher, who is only trying to survive it all.

When a man goes out seeking blood, he will find it.Always he will find it. It was a truth Cutter had learned long ago, for he had been that man. For countless years, on countless battlefields, he had sought violence and blood…and the gods help him, he had found it. Found more than his share. But there was another truth, one he was only now beginning to understand. The truth that, once a man wed himself to violence, to war, he could not easily put it aside, for carnage was a jealous bride who, upon discovering that its groom had forgotten it, set out to make him remember. She did that reminding not with soft words but with battle cries and the screams of the wounded. And death, of course. That most of all. And so Cutter finds himself taking shelter in the woods with the remaining survivors of a bloody massacre. Now, he and his companions journey to New Daltenia, the capital of the Known Lands and the seat of his brother’s power. For only there can they prove Matt’s royal blood and keep him safe. But Feledias is not the only threat they face. The Fey were defeated once, but while the kingdom of the Known Lands has nearly ripped itself apart during the feud of its royal princes, the denizens of the Black Wood have worked within the shadows. In the darkness of the Black Wood, they have plotted their revenge. They do not know it yet, but the people of the Known Lands are at war. A war taking place not on distant battlefields but in the quiet alleyways of their own cities, within the walls of their own homes. The Fey aren’t coming—they’re already here. So it is that in order to save the kingdom he failed so long ago, Cutter must stand against his enemies and those he once called friends. Should he fail, should he fall, then the Known Lands will fall with him. And if by some thin chance he succeeds, then perhaps he might find what he has sought for fifteen years—redemption.

War isn’t coming. It’s here. Aaron and his companions prevented the assassination of a queen but in doing so they angered an ancient evil. Angered it, wounded it, but did not kill it, for such evil never truly dies. An army greater than any the world has ever known marches bringing steel and death with it and somewhere a thousand year old evil lurks in the darkness, plotting and bending its will toward revenge. Aaron and his companions have gathered allies to help them in the coming battle and each day his bond with the Virtue of Compassion grows stronger, gifting him greater and greater power. But if life on the street taught Aaron anything, it’s that no one is better able to stab you in the back as those standing behind you. And as his power with the legendary creature grows so, too, does an uncontrollable rage that threatens to consume him. His enemies are many, his friends few, but no matter what happens, they will all learn the truth of a sellsword’s strength. He will show them a sellsword’s resolve.

The battle is won. But the war is just beginning. Belgarin’s forces have retreated, but in the city of Perennia there is no rejoicing. The air is filled with the mourning cries of survivors, and the wind that blows through the city carries the smell of freshly dug graves and death. As the city grieves, Aaron and his companions attempt to hold together an alliance that threatens to crumble around them. While the alliance’s leaders bicker and argue, Boyce Kevlane, an ancient wizard bent on revenge, has taken Belgarin’s place as king and uses his twisted powers to create an army out of nightmare. To stand a chance of keeping the coalition together, Aaron is forced to venture into Baresh, a city gripped by madness and terror, in search of proof of the coming danger. But evil is a thing of shadows and darkness, and it will not go easily into the light. To survive, Aaron will be forced to call on his friends and the growing power of his bond with a creature of myth. Yet even this may not be enough. For there are other powers in the world, darker ones, and there is no telling what secrets the shadows hold.

Aaron Envelar thought that a sellsword’s life was just about as dangerous as any life could be. He was wrong. Trapped in a conquered city with a reward on their heads, Aaron and his companions must find a way to elude the soldiers pursuing them while he struggles to understand his bond with Co, a magical creature of myth and the Virtue of Compassion. There is power within the bond, power that could help him protect his friends, if he’s lucky enough to master it before the darkness within it consumes him. But luck, Aaron knows, is a blade reached for in the dark, the man who grasps it as likely to bleed for his trouble as find the handle. Stalked by Belgarin’s soldiers, Aaron and his companions struggle to find allies before it’s too late. But Belgarin’s army is not the only danger they face, and even should they escape, even should Aaron master his bond with a legendary creature of magic, they may still fail. They may still die. For there are other legends in the world, other magic. And not all legends are good ones. Not all magic is benign.