RISE (2019)

"Young Queen Zakaiah and her reluctant entourage are in the midst of ambush by a cadre of vicious soul-thieves on the dark road to the first in the trials of the House of Jasser, a series of tests designed to train her to rule the Kingdom she's inherited. Uncertain about the individuals assembled to guide and guard her and lost in a foreign landscape, she learns her first lesson in survival and sacrifice."

"Reeling from tragic events since embarking on their grand quest, the remaining members of Zakaiah's entourage manage to guide her to the Temple of the First Trial, but not without an ominous, violent welcome. Within the walls of Pasif'kah, Haydan is in aggressive pursuit of thwarting Zakaiah's ascension by hunting down those who would mystically aide them on the road from within the city, and with the help of the mysterious Queen of Qards."

"'Echo.' Marooned in the settlement built around the first Jasser Trial complex presents a challenge for Queen Zak's dwindling, but able entourage, as a sinister presence plagues its unassuming denizens. The queen's reluctant host and his family uneasily welcome the crew into their home, an old Inn troubled by its own darkness, as they each begin to learn more about ghosts of their pasts and begin to realize the vast expanse, and darker corners, of the Kingdom of Pasif'kah."

"'The Devil in the Doorstep': As each of Queen Zak's guardians explore their own inner demons, trouble begins to derail the Trials as they learn about the dark forces already plaguing their hosts at the inn in the crosshairs of their own veiled stalker. Meanwhile, Zak's prophetic dreams provide a lens into the weight of responsibility before her, as well as just how near and dangerous mysterious forces are in intervening on her ascent to the throne, and unbeknownst to her, from the upper echelons of its own royal court!"

"The legend of the soul thief unravels and is intertwined with Pasif'kah's dark underground. Meanwhile, Balthazar and Frix take Echo under their wing to soften the sting of their current unsettling circumstances. Queen Zakaiah reaches the final stages of the first Trial of Jasser as they attempt to thwart Echo's mother's descent into gravely mysterious illness, which warrants a deadly attempt at a particularly challenging exorcism."

"With help from Balthazar's memories, the conclusion of the first trial hits Zak hard through revelations about her parents and the sins of their pasts, as the secrets of the House of Jasser begin to unravel. Meanwhile, a massive attack on a school in Pasif'kah by a small army of soul thieves stirs the city into turmoil. Finally, the strange events surrounding the inn come to a head and as the entourage grow closer, they spring to action to come to the aid of their hosts with dire consequences. "