The Crossleaf Blades — John Wallace

Erik Steiner, Captain of the Queen's Guard of Nolvaria, and Aleed Ravenwing, commander of the elite 43rd Corps of the Northern Dwarven Kingdom, two soldiers who meet on the field of battle and form an unlikely friendship. During the battle with the Vampire Lord, Scapus the Putrid, Captain Steiner is initiated into the company of those who carry weapons known as Crossleaf Blades. In fulfilling a promise to return to the scene of the battle one year later, the Captain receives his own Crossleaf Blades and learns what it truly means to carry such weapons. He soon discovers he is to become the guardian of a strange young girl he names Hope. Hope represents the only chance the northern kingdoms have against Lord Nakaret, the Soulless One, who seeks to overrun the kingdoms with his armies of Undead warriors. The mysterious members of the Brotherhood of the Eternal Light inform the Captain that he must deliver Hope into the very presence of the Soulless One, and only then can she attempt to save the northern kingdoms. Accompanied by Commander Ravenwing, Captain Steiner and Hope begin their journey south and quickly find they are being hunted by the resurrected priests of Lord Nakaret, known as Whispers.