The Road Builders. Tales of the Aura Weavers, #2

The Magic in a StoneDrought has struck Borgonne, and no amount of weather magic relieves it. After three hundred years of enforced separation, trade with the agrarian land on the other side of the dangerous, spell-riddled hills is imperative. Simply put, Borgonne needs food. Neve Farmer, a self-trained master of earth magic, and Santon Fernandez, once apprenticed to a mage who was murdered, are charged with building a road, a trade route to the far south where it is possible to circumvent many of the dangers imposed by the hills.
Using their complementary magical talents, the work progresses - until the day they find a polished green stone buried under a ruined tower. The stone tingles in Neve's presence and positively shivers when Santon, an air mage, is present as well. The purpose of the stone has been lost, but there can be no doubt they are the key to unlocking it. However, Gauvain, the most powerful mage in Borgonne, is determined to claim the stone.
Unwilling to give it up, out of options, and despite the risk, Neve and Santon make the fateful decision to flee .. into the hills where reality is obscured and magic is rampant. At first, all seems well if slightly eerie. Ultimately, however, it will require all Neve's earth-based steadfastness, all Santon's magical flare, to survive the hills and release the stone's secret.~Tales of the Aura Weavers continues the story begun in the Aura Weavers trilogy, where many of the people and customs are introduced.