Resistance rumbles. Rebellion erupts. War sweeps across the continents as Rhynn and Este fight to free their people. Seth leads an army of unlikely allies into battle. As he chases the Butcher of Bloody Bend toward Jorendon, his darkest secret follows him, daring him to face a truth that could cost him all he loves. Malatchee Mico confronts Tobias about betraying his trust. Determined to free his sister's son from captivity, Malatchee gives Tobias one chance to restore the balance or else leave Tallu forever. They will go to war in Philippeon together and drive the Laradian snakes into the sea. But with war comes sacrifice. Who will pay the price? Mouse gets a name and meets her Reader. Dara struggles with the horror of his crime. Deighton faces an accounting for his deceit. Puppeteers incite mass panic, and the kazera venture out of hiding. The Rootstock Saga characters you know so well are in a race against time. The water is rising, and the Watchers are coming for the harvest. Even as war distracts them from the paths the Patterns demand they follow, when the Witch of Lurago awakens a mindgift like no other, the chalyns and their destinies begin to converge.

Gifted or cursed? Isobel is a healer, and the Hawks who accepted her, broken and different as she was, need her help. But she must hide the truth behind her healing power. She is an empath. John Deighton, The Prophet, is back in Innis and stoking the embers of bigotry and superstition, scouring the realm and imprisoning mindgifted Aurels. When he corners Isobel, will she fight back or succumb to her old fears and lingering scars from the Beast of Monaughty? Will she answer the call of a healer if it costs her everything she loves? Far across the sea, Tobias Buchanan is racing against time to build New Rhynn as a haven for his clan. As the noose of oppression squeezes tighter in Innis, the Hawks may soon be forced to choose between their homeland and their way of life. Can he earn a place for his Hawks amongst the Este of Tallu? Can he prove Rhynns are worthy of their trust? Meanwhile, the Este are discovering their own place in the Awakening and the Joining. Spirit runners grow more powerful by the year, and the Mists hover closer over Tallu. But will it be enough when the water rises? Will they be ready before the cycle ends? Path of the Spirit Runner is the enthralling continuation of the Rootstock Saga. Evolution and oppression. Magical mindgifts and dragon science. The characters you loved in Legend of the Storm Hawks come of age and weave their own threads in the Patterns.

The rebellion is won. Rhynn belongs to Rhynns again, and the rose is set to bloom. But rebuilding is proving harder than conquering. “Confounding, isn’t it?” said Nigel. “How much easier it is to take a thing apart than to put it back together?” “I expected no less. I tore down a kingdom." Seth tugged off his gloves. “I can walk away after securing a better one in its place.” For Seth, that means setting the crown on someone else's head, and building walls to hide the secret no Rhynn could forgive. But his walls keep out more than he intended. After everything he fought for is stripped away, he realizes the will to choose is all that’s left. In Tallu, the Este are settling into a wary peace. Tobias is haunted by the hollow-eyed ghosts of the lost. Gone, but not forgotten. He embarks on a daring journey to the islands, and his search opens the door to the a shadowy world where every name matters. Can he find and release the caged storm before it's too late? "Second chances are starker than the first. We know going in what losing will cost us." --Seth Nigel travels to Tallu to honor Brynmohr's dying wish. Against all odds and despite his arrogance, when he counts all the children and grandchildren scattered from Rhynn to Tallu, Nigel finds himself the surrogate patriarch to what is likely the largest family any nene has ever known. He faces his past, questions his choices, and vows to make amends to those he wronged. But then, discovering the Dawnguard's darkest secret draws him back to Rhynn. Nigel is no sooner gone than a couple of runaway Rhynns show up in Tallu. Ava and Rory find a new mentor for their mindgifts. Ava picks up where the story left off, while Lamochatee searches for the missing Ayohotulee. Will an unlikely bond bring a legend to life? Mouse haunts the archives in La Gracia, waiting for her Reader to return. They try to convince her he is dead. Father says she is chasing a delusion. But it's hard to lie to a truthtaster. Meanwhile, in Camran, a rogue mindrider is devouring embers to feed her powerful mindgift. Unrestrained by conscience or sanity, her twisted plan to survive the cycle's end draws the chalyns together for the final battle. "We are two sides of a coin, a chalyn of war and peace." --Seth The toughest challenge they face? Finding the enemy amidst the hollow monsters and wolves of straw. "What we call life is not the only form life knows." --Amadeo All the storylines woven through the Rootstock Saga come together in this fourth and final novel of the series.