Key (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780645103267)

With the fate of his squadron hanging in the balance, battle-weary Commander Zinkx Maz embarks on a quest to the distant land of Pennadot to find the Key of legend...or die trying.

No one knows what the Key is and what it unlocks - or even whether they are searching for an implement or a code. The legends only suggest that it is the last chance to save their collapsing world. Zinkx joins forces with a Kelib woman escaping a life of slavery and an ethereal creature who speaks a language that taunts Zinkx with memories he doesn't recognise. Can his new companions help uncover the secrets left behind by an ancient race, or has the horror of the trenches followed Zinkx, destroying everyone he crosses paths with as it hunts him down?

When the Prince of Pennadot receives an invitation he cannot refuse, his venture beyond the walls of Palace-Town is the first taste of freedom for both him and his troubled ward, Skyeola Mazaki. It is freedom that comes at a steep price, and there is no running from the terrible secrets behind the throne. Will the Prince survive the dangers that threaten his land, following in the wake of a foreign warrior - or is he easy prey, trapped as he is in a web of intrigue, with a greater horror lurking in his own court? Does Skyeola know enough about the underground resistance to save them both? Or is he being used as a pawn to topple the crown?