A Dark Queen Rises Ashok K. Banker

Based on a section of the Rig-Veda that is now acknowledged by historians and archaeologists, this is the thrilling story of King Sudas and the impossible battle he was forced to fight against a far superior force led by Ten Kings (‘Dasarajna’ in Sanskrit) comprising his neighbors and allies led by his friend Anu, instigated by Anu’s guru Vishwamitra, in a bid to wipe out Sudas’s tribe and take control of the rich fertile lands they guarded on behalf of the ‘Bharata’ nation.

A dread darkness is descending upon a great land called Midkemia-a powerful and malevolent race of monsters that has slipped through a hole in the dimensions. And two unlikely young heroes-a bastard heir denied his birthright and an irrepressible scoundrel with a penchant for thievery-must take up arms in the struggle to protect their besieged world…two friends chosen by Destiny to stand at the fore of the battle that is to come against the gargantuan reptile army of the terrible Emerald Queen.

Baleron is the youngest son of the king of Havensrike, a land eternally at war with the dark empire of Oslog to the south. Ruled by Gilgaroth, the legions of Oslog have continually striven to tear down the works of man and sweep the world in darkness. For eons the dark masses have awaited their lord's Chosen One, he who will be appointed by Gilgaroth to usher in the next age of shadow.