The Forest of Despair

<p><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>A heroine's first adventure. A kingdom's last hope. </strong></p><p><br></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Gemma spends her days studying a war her father fought in before her birth but she realizes that not everything is what it seems. When she sets off to interview an aging hero she learns about an emerging threat to the kingdom prophesied by the forbidden factions of magic and religion. </span></p><p><br></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Since she can't go to the officials without incriminating her new friend Richard they must set off together on a journey through an uncanny forest to confirm and neutralize the threat. Can they forge new alliances and defeat the forces of evil without the use of magic or the might of a military? </span></p><p><br></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>If they fail everyone they love will perish. </span></p><p><br></p><p><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>The Forest of Despair</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)> is the first book of The Pierced Shadow Archive a new series of epic fantasy adventures following an emerging heroine and her team of sidekicks including a witch with an army of children a young homeless seer a giant ogre a boisterous stage performer and an all-female crew of pirates. </span></p><p><br></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Note: This book was previously published under the name Gemma Calvertson and the Forest of Despair and the series name The Aepistelle Chronicles in 2021. The text remains unchanged. </span></p>