“The Sky That Broke the Hills, Book One of the Dire Skies Trilogy,” by T.C. and R.E. Rubright, begins the story of Feldregor “Slaga” Boyden, a military indentured man, or mim, bound to toil for years in Fort Lyster, a backwater army post in northern Stheara. Seventeen years before, King Alastair Bracey unleashed a brutal purge of magic, effectively erasing magic and its practitioners from the land.

By accident, and much to his dismay, Slaga learns that he was born with a rare condition called sharna macha, in which contact with magic causes violent illness, thought it also offers protection from violent magical attacks. As Slaga’s best friend and fellow mim Floort is about to be unjustly hanged for stealing a mysterious golden watch, the fort is attacked by a fierce band of Darb Lahat uplanders. Soldiers and mims are thrown into chaos which lends cover to something far more sinister: a wizard storm controlled by a malevolent, unseen mage.

Slaga escapes with the help of his fellow mims and a former nemesis, the mercurial Major Dietrick. Along with an old corporal named Yoris, they travel into the wilds of Nortis Province in search of Bill Skye, the legendary Master Witch Warden of Stheara. He alone can train Slaga to tame the sharna macha and turn it to his advantage. But the road to the Witchery, master Skye’s mountain fortress, is not a straight one. Slaga and his friends encounter ruthless bandits, dodge cavalry and bounty hunters, take refuge in a secret magical village and more, all while Slaga learns what he can do to magic and what magic can do to him.

“The Sky That Ate the Smoke” continues Slaga’s tale and is now available on Amazon.com.

Book three, “The Sky That Spilled the Stars” is currently in production.