Aldric's position as a professor of magic at Nevis academy has finally given the man a home. But between his eager young students wanting to know anything and everything about him and this upcoming mage tournament, Aldric can't help but be filled with unease. They've already been attacked, after all. Are they really safe? Foolish question. Even after all these years, Aldric somehow forgot the world's oldest truths; that nothing is at it seems, and everyone is looking for their own angle. Aldric has no idea who to trust, or even who his real enemies are. And to top it all off, all three warring countries are now coming together for the first time in decades.Aldric better have meant it when he said he'd prepare his new family for the worst. Because they're about to be tested. 

Aldric is a washed-up sorcerer whose only goal in life is to get drunk enough to forget his troubled past. That is, until his friends coerce him into a teaching position at one of the most prestigious magic academies in the world. Now he's saddled with the responsibility of teaching four new eager and diverse pupils, all of whom wonder who this brilliant but unorthodox new professor really is. But Aldric's past demons aren't gone. They've only been lying in wait. As wars, rulers and politics all begin to catch up with him, Aldric's newfound place to belong may be threatened by the very things he's been trying to escape.  It may be time to finally confront the past if Aldric wants to keep teaching his students. And maybe learn some things himself.