Summer of 1448

After a hundred-year war, the Ottoman Empire conquered all Christian Kingdoms in the Balkan Peninsula. Now, Sultan Murad II, the man calling himself “the Shadow of Allah upon the world” stands ready to invade the Kingdom of Hungary and its dominions, Transylvania and Wallachia.

Lorian Comosicus, heir to a mysterious ring of the Knights of Draco, and his twelve-year-old brother, Silvan, are sent to the fortress of Roter Turm in Transylvania with a secret message from the conspirators who killed the voievod of Wallachia, Vlad Dracul, for switching allegiance to the Ottoman Empire. After narrowly evading capture by the Ottomans, and surviving the perils of crossing the border-mountains, the boys get lost in the vast forests of Transylvania. There, they meet a lone knight, Sir Gregor Dahr Altair, the sole survivor of Roter Turm, which the Ottomans destroyed. Sir Altair is a member of the Excubitors, a secret brotherhood determined to prevent the Ottoman Empire from imposing its will upon the rest of Europe.

Rushing ahead of the tempest, he leads the brothers to the great trading city of Hermannstadt, where the Excubitors are meeting in a secret conclave. There follows the siege and battle of Hermannstadt, and Lorian's bravery in foiling a plot by Ottoman spies to blow up the defenses and let the invaders into the city. The book concludes with the pursuit of the Bedouin Thor Husam al Din, the Ottoman spy who seemed to have taken captive, Lorian's brother, Silvan. Than leads us to the second book in the great saga: 

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Autumn of 1448

Sultan Murad’s plan to invade the Kingdom of Hungary and its dominions is in full force. After placing on the throne of Wallachia young Prince Vladislaus, and sending the Army of Vidin to siege Hermannstadt in Transylvania, the next move is to invade Hungary itself, the last bastion standing between him and the rest of Christendom.

With the fate of Europe in the balance, the Brotherhood of the Excubitors counsels the Regent of Hungary, Johann Hunyadi, not to stand up against the empire’s immense army, but to march his knights against the City of Erdine. It is a desperately bold maneuver, but the only way to force the Ottomans to turn around and defend their imperial city.

With the fateful battle looming, Sir Altair and Lorian are in pursuit of the Bedouin Thor Husam al Din whom they fear holds captive Lorian’s brother, Silvan. Thor, who in truth stumbled upon the boy during the siege of Hermannstadt, must rush to the City of Targoviste in Wallachia at the behest of the Grand Vizier. Faced with the choice of leaving the frightened, ailing boy to die or take him across the border-mountains, Thor chooses the later.

Sir Altair and Lorian arrive in Targoviste during the rebellion of the Wallachians against the Ottomans who placed the puppet Prince Vladislaus on the throne. Caught in the web of insurgency, they enter the royal fortress through a secret tunnel only to find not a puppet ruler, but a prisoner. Freeing the young prince, who from there on would call himself Vlad Dracula, Sir Altair and Lorian escape the city and rushes to the Hungarian army’s gathering place to unfold an Ottoman plan to assassinate Johann Hunyadi.

Their adventures, punctuated by the historical insights and factual depictions of life in 15^th century Eastern Europe, are narrated with excitement and humor, as the story builds up to the climatic Second Battle of Kosovo. The surprising conclusion of this book leads us to the third installment in the great saga:

The year is 1453

Scheduled to be released 10/01/2011