The Dark Road Ahead. The Drakkan Chronicles, #2

A gnome bard. A war he never meant to fight. A road getting darker with every step. Ferrin Alsahar came ashore in Vyspan looking for a hot meal and a ship home. What he found was a frozen kingdom slowly dying - refugees freezing in the squares, bread thieves losing their heads in the market, and a tavern-keeper who deals in bloodstained letters and very dangerous favors. He should have kept walking.
He never could. Now Ferrin is bound for a queen no one can find, with an orc warrior on his left and a high elf scholar on his right. Behind them, prison camps the size of cities. Ahead, necromancers, soldiers in black cloaks, and a nameless shadow called The Darkness eating its way through the kingdoms of the north. And somewhere far to the south, someone wants to see his family destroyed. The illusions Ferrin trained for as a boy won't keep anyone alive out here.
The deeper magic he keeps reaching for might - if he can survive what it costs him. Heroes get songs sung about them. Ferrin used to write the songs. This isn't that kind of story. The Dark Road Ahead is Book Two of The Drakkan Chronicles - character-driven epic fantasy with the wit of The Lies of Locke Lamora and the heart of Kings of the Wyld.