Avoiding a war isn't getting any easier. Hazel and her companions are shaken after the last battle and don't know where to turn. Realizing that in the event of a full-scale war they would be sorely pressed, they take their time to regroup and try to form a better plan. If that wasn't already bad enough, tensions are high for other reasons as well. More personal ones. They have lost friends in their fight for justice and those losses now threaten to tear the group apart. Hazel discovers that she has an exciting and dangerous new ability. One that might give them the edge they need to win. But only if she can survive long enough to use it. Can Hazel and the others put personal feelings and vendettas aside to finish what they started, or will the group be torn apart and be hunted down one by one?

THE NEW EARTH DRAGON HAS BEEN CHOSEN!Imeraldä is chosen by Mother Gaea as the new EArth Dragon. But she starts with little of the raw power of an Elemental Dragon as the vast might of the last EArth Dragon was stolen by the Goddess Blodeuwald and the Daemon Lord Ghagiel in their bid to rule the three realms.She returns to her family home to rest and adjust to her new responsibilities. But the Immortalist Sorcerers are gathering an immense army and are heading to destroy the last hope of mortal kind. It is up to her and her lovers, the human Paladin Rodregas and the Hellborn Doi'van to turn the tide against impossible odds.

Turn on the Charm According to some (including himself), Constantine is one of the greatest heroes of dragonkin who ever lived. Too bad he's now lonelier than ever and his biggest adventure involves a blow-up sheep-until he has an opportunity to save his kind once again. All Constantine has to do is break into a demon's dungeon, steal an ancient artifact, and reverse a deadly curse. The plan certainly does not involve rescuing a woman . . . Turn Up the Heat Bee isn't sure whether to be infuriated or relieved when Constantine pops up in her prison. The broody, brawny shifter lights her fire in a way no one ever has before, yet how far can she really trust him? Their chemistry may be off the charts, but when push comes to shove, Constantine will have to make a crucial choice: to save the dragons or the woman he's grown to love with fierce intensity.

The clock is relentlessly ticking! Our world teeters on a knife-edge between a peaceful and prosperous future for all, and a dark winter of death and destruction that threatens to smother the light of civilization. Within 30 years, in the 2030 decade, six powerful 'drivers' will converge with unprecedented force in a statistical spike that could tear humanity apart and plunge the world into a new Dark Age. Depleted fuel supplies, massive population growth, poverty, global climate change, famine, growing water shortages and international lawlessness are on a crash course with potentially catastrophic consequences. In the face of both doomsaying and denial over the state of our world, Colin Mason cuts through the rhetoric and reams of conflicting data to muster the evidence to illustrate a broad picture of the world as it is, and our possible futures. Ultimately his message is clear; we must act decisively, collectively and immediately to alter the trajectory of humanity away from catastrophe. Offering over 100 priorities for immediate action, The 2030 Spike serves as a guidebook for humanity through the treacherous minefields and wastelands ahead to a bright, peaceful and prosperous future in which all humans have the opportunity to thrive and build a better civilization. This book is powerful and essential reading for all people concerned with the future of humanity and planet earth.

While exploring a derelict mine, young Simon Smithson enters a new land—Syrania. His latent powers awakened, Simon embarks upon a quest to free Syrania from its domination by neighbouring Norya. Guided by Syrania's last free Wizard, Simon's journey of adventure and discovery begins.

Bridging the fields of conservation, art history, and museum curating, this volume contains the principal papers from an international symposium titled "Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice" at the University of Leiden in Amsterdam, Netherlands, from June 26 to 29, 1995. The symposium—designed for art historians, conservators, conservation scientists, and museum curators worldwide—was organized by the Department of Art History at the University of Leiden and the Art History Department of the Central Research Laboratory for Objects of Art and Science in Amsterdam. Twenty-five contributors representing museums and conservation institutions throughout the world provide recent research on historical painting techniques, including wall painting and polychrome sculpture. Topics cover the latest art historical research and scientific analyses of original techniques and materials, as well as historical sources, such as medieval treatises and descriptions of painting techniques in historical literature. Chapters include the painting methods of Rembrandt and Vermeer, Dutch 17th-century landscape painting, wall paintings in English churches, Chinese paintings on paper and canvas, and Tibetan thangkas. Color plates and black-and-white photographs illustrate works from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.

From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes incredible stories of science, history, finance, mythology, the arts, medicine, and more, as told by the Periodic Table. Why did Gandhi hate iodine (I, 53)? How did radium (Ra, 88) nearly ruin Marie Curie's reputation? And why is gallium (Ga, 31) the go-to element for laboratory pranksters? The Periodic Table is a crowning scientific achievement, but it's also a treasure trove of adventure, betrayal, and obsession. These fascinating tales follow every element on the table as they play out their parts in human history, and in the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them. The Disappearing Spoon masterfully fuses science with the classic lore of invention, investigation, and discovery -- from the Big Bang through the end of time. Though solid at room temperature, gallium is a moldable metal that melts at 84 degrees Fahrenheit. A classic science prank is to mold gallium spoons, serve them with tea, and watch guests recoil as their utensils disappear.