The Obsidian Trilogy

Coauthored by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory, the Obsidian Trilogy tells the story of a war between a coalition of races and evil Demons known as the Endarkened. The three books in the series are The Outstretched Shadow, To Light A Candle, and When Darkness Falls.

Key figures to know:

• Kellen Tavadon: The main protagonist from the beginning of the series, Kellen starts out as the disappointing son of Armethalieh's Archmage, Lycaelon Tavadon. As the series continues, he discovers that he is, firstly, a Wildmage, and secondly (after being banished from Armethalieh for being a Wildmage), a special kind of Wildmage called a Knight-Mage. Knowing this, he leads the combined armies of the Allies against the Endarkened. He is in love with Vestakia.
• Idalia Tavadon: Kellen's older sister, Idalia is also a Wildmage, and is in love with the Elf Jermayan. Ends the conflict by willingly sacrificing herself to save her father. Shortly thereafter, she is reincarnated as the daughter of the Elven King.
• Shalkan: A snarky unicorn, Shalkan enters the story when Kellen needs help escaping Armethalieh's lands. He is practically addicted to sweets.
• Jermayan: Jermayan begins as a garden-variety Elven Knight in the first book, who also happens to be in love with Idalia. In the second book, he meets and bonds with Ancaladar, an ancient dragon, thus becoming the first Elven Mage in millenia. Later, in the third book, he nearly dies and loses his magic, before having it restored to him by Idalia's sacrifice.
• Ancaladar: In the last war against the Endarkened, most of the Dragons and their bondmates died. Ancaladar didn't, but he feels very guilty about that. Fortunately for his guilt, he bonds with Jermayan, and fights for the Allies.
• Vestakia: Vestakia has the misfortune of being half-Endarkened, half-human. Worse still, she's the daughter of the Prince of the Endarkened. Even worse still, she looks like an Endarkened, even to the point of little horns. On the other hand, her parentage lets her sense Endarkened and their magic. On the third hand, it does that by making her feel sick. She and Kellen are in love.
• Cilarnen Volpiril: Cilarnen is only a minor character in the first book. In To Light A Candle, though, we see a lot more of him, including his banishment from Armethalieh for treason.

Lackey and Mallory also released a second trilogy, called The Enduring Flame Trilogy, set in the same world, only about a thousand years later. Idalia, Kellen, Shalkan, and all the crew from the first trilogy are now distant legends/religious figures. There have been no High Mages for centuries, and the Elves have left their old cities to the humans and centaurs. Until, that is, a young Armethaliehan discovers that he is a High Mage. That means that he and his best buddy have to set off on a quest.

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Tropes used in The Obsidian Trilogy include:

• Affably Evil: Chired Anigrel/Anigrel Tavadon, the main human villain, is seen by most High Mages as an extraordinarily competent and loyal young Mage. In reality, he has been evil since he was a small child.
• The Ageless: Dragons do not age. However, they can be killed and, if bonded to a mage, die when their bonded does.
• Allergic to Good: The Endarkened and many of their minions are vulnerable to the touch of unicorns. Idalia's sacrifice causes, essentially, a mass allergy attack among the Endarkened.
• Allergic to Evil: Vestakia started suffering from this at puberty, and she rapidly learned to use the discomfort as a warning/tracking tool.
• All Love Is Unrequited: Played straight for Kellen/Vestakia for most of the trilogy, and Idalia/Jermayan for at least part of it.
• And Your Reward Is Infancy: Idalia, reincarnated as the daughter of the Elven Queen to be with Jermayan with a similar lifespan instead of a short human one.
• Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad: From the High Mages' perspective, the Wild Mages (who are good) are evil Demonworshippers. Anigrel takes that to its logical conclusion by convincing the High Mages to nearly ally themselves with the Endarkened.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: One of the most important things a Wild Mage should know. While the Wild Magic won't try to intentionally screw you, it asks a price for each wish it answers, and the price depends on the difficulty of the wish. Wild Mages are warned to think carefully about what they really want/need so that they can minimize the amount of work the Wild Magic has to do which in turn, minimizes the price the Mage and anyone who's willing to share the cost has to pay.
• Black and White Morality: The villains - the Endarkened - are irredeemably, undoubtedly evil, and aim to destroy and taint everything, all for their own pleasure. The heroes, on the other hand, are depicted as having no ulterior motives, fighting only to defend what is Good and to restore the balance in the world, and are shown to take no inherent pleasure in killing the Endarkened or their allies.
  • The selfish and xenophobic Armethalians occupy the middle ground. Both sides want them as allies/pawns.
• Boxing Lessons for Superman: Kellen who is a Knight-Mage, a kind of Wildmage that has incredible innate skill in combat and war learning swordfighting from Jermayan, and later, from Master Belesharon at the House of Sword and Shield.
• Celibate Hero: Kellen's Mageprice for receiving Shalkan's aid in escaping the Outlaw Hunt requires him to be this.
• The Chessmaster: Savilla, Queen of Shadow Mountain, has spent literally centuries setting up the various surviving Races Of The Light to deal with multiple no-win situations at the same time. Chired Anigrel only looks like an understudy compared to her.
• Cool Gate: Jermayan constructs a large one to move the Elven Army across a mountain range, sacrificing all of his magic to do so. This would kill him, except that he's rescued by the Starry Hunt.
• Dark Is Evil: Hello, the Endarkened?
• Deadpan Snarker: Most of the good POV characters have at least one instance of it, but Shalkan takes the cake. Also, many Elves can snark it up in a pinch.
• Detect Evil: Vestakia's ability to sense the presence of the Endarkened, or the presence of anything that has been tainted by the Endarkened.
• Determinator: Kellen. A Knight-Mage's key attribute is strength of will. This allows Kellen to perform feats that would be far beyond even the best Elven warrior. You could almost see this as the Knight-Mage's greatest magic power.
• Divide and Conquer: Queen Savilla's plan to get the Elven army and its Allies to fight against Armethalieh and have the Endarkened pick off the weakened winners.
• Dragon Rider: All Mages who have bonded with a Dragon; for instance, Jermayan. The bonding between a dragon and its Mage is such that not only their minds are linked, but their lives - if one dies, so does the other.
• Fish Out of Water: Cilarnen Volpiril, the quintessential Armethaliehan student of High Magic, when pushed into the midst of Wildmages and 'Lesser Races' that he'd been taught to despise and fear all his life.
• Friendless Background: Kellen in Armethalieh at the beginning.
• Functional Magic: At least four distinct systems.
  • High Magic is the magic used by the High Mages of Armethalieh. It's part Inherent Gift, part Force Magic, and part very strict Rule Magic.
  • Outside of Armethalieh, most human magic users use Wild Magic. This system is primarily Theurgy, with a certain element of Wild Magic. Certain Wildmages are also Knight-Mages, which makes them about the best tacticians/warriors in the world.
  • The antagonists, the Endarkened, are all mages, using a system that is essentially Force Magic by way of Black Magic.
  • If you happen to meet a dragon who has a compatible personality (or something along those lines), you can become a Dragon Mage. Dragon Magic is part Inherent Gift, but mostly Force Magic.
• Glamour Failure: Inverted when Kellen, Jermayan, and Shalkan first meet Vestakia; more precisely when Shalkan touches the rather demonic looking woman with his horn and she doesn't drop dead on the spot.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Idalia, to prevent Queen Savilla from sacrificing Lycaelon in order to bring He Who Is back into the world.
• Human Mom, Nonhuman Dad: Vestakia's mother was a Wildmage, and her father, the Demon Prince Zyperis.
• Idiot Ball: The High Mages hold this for most of the series, only relinquishing it when the Endarkened literally walk up to the City Walls and snatch away the Archmage and their stooge. Individual High Mages may hold it for longer.
• Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: Are you an Elven warrior who's already ninja-esque in your badassedness? Just add a dragon, and you become a badass warrior-mage with practically unlimited power.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Idalia refuses to acknowledge the mutual love between her and Jermayan, because she's inevitably going to die long before he will, and Elves mate for life.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Cilarnen is (initially) a bigoted, spoilt brat, but nevertheless works with the Elves and Wildmages out of his love for his city. He eventually completely loses Jerkass status by overcoming his prejudiced upbringing, learning to see the 'Lesser Races' as valuable equals and even admitting that Kellen has become his best friend.
• Last Stand: It's not onscreen, but in the first book, Jermayan tells a story from the last Endarkened War about seven scouts (scouts, mind you) who held off an entire army of Demons long enough for the Allied Armies to arrive. Later in the same book, Jermayan, Shalkan, and Vestakia get to perform a mini-version of that battle.
• Light Is Good: Played straight for the majority of the story, but subverted when the High Mages nearly ally themselves to the Endarkened because they have very cleverly renamed themselves the "Enlightened". Oh, and they dress up like good guys.
• Love Makes You Dumb: Anigrel, but only in a specific way. He was a perfectly capable and devious spy and saboteur for the Endarkened, but he simply failed to see it coming when the Endarkened Queen eats him. See also What an Idiot!.
• Love Makes You Evil: Again, Anigrel, thanks to a corrupting spell from the Endarkened Queen. It may be the other way around, though.
• Loves the Sound of Screaming: The Endarkened.
• The Magocracy: Armethalieh has nobles, merchants, and commoners, but unless you are a Mage, you're pretty much nothing. The Mages hold all of the high governmental positions, and most of the low ones, too.
• The Man Behind the Man: Chired Anigrel, or Anigrel Tavadon, attained more power than any Arch-Mage despite only being the by far most junior member of the High Council.
• Missing Mom: Kellen and Idalia's mother, Alance.
• Our Elves Are Better: The Elves of the Obsidian Trilogy usually live up to a thousand years (in peaceful times), and are almost always perfect in whatever they do. Elf-made dishes, clothes, weapons, horses, fortresses—even mines, are all better than anything humans can make. They make up for this awesomeness with a very, very convoluted system of politeness. Fortunately for the roundears among us, they probably won't expect you to understand everything.
• Our Orcs Are Different: They're called "Shadowed Elves", and are the barely-sapient descendants of Elven prisoners from the last war, mixed with Goblins and Lesser Endarkened. All of them were exterminated by the Elves and their allies, as part of the Endarkened Evil Plan.
• Released to Elsewhere: Banishment from Armethalieh ostensibly means you have one night to leave the City's lands and never come back, and if you loiter, the stone golem hounds called the Outlaw Hunt will escort you out. In reality, it's (nearly) impossible to reach the border before dawn, and when you don't, the Hunt tears you to pieces.
• Secret Police: As paranoia among the Mages increases in the second and third books, Anigrel forms two secret police forces, the Magewardens and the Commons Wardens, to find suspected Wildmage/Elven saboteurs. All as a part of his Evil Plan.
• Separated by the Wall: Kellen cannot "express his feelings" to Vestakia, because that would violate a Mageprice (magical agreement). And then Shalkan would be reluctantly forced to castrate him.
• Smug Snake: The High Mages (particularly the Council Mages and the Archmage) and the Endarkened.
• Stealth Hi Bye: Unicorns are stealthy, even to Knight-Mage senses, and Shalkan takes delight in sneaking up behind Kellen to say hello.
• Sweet Tooth: Shalkan, who frequently demands honey-cakes (or generally any kind of confection) from Kellen.
• Took a Level in Badass: Kellen, when he finds out that he's a Knight-Mage.
• To the Pain: There are multiple torture scenes, with many different ways of torture. When the antagonists make magic out of pain, that's only to be expected, though.
• The Unpronounceable: Many of the Elven cities, if not unpronounceable, are at least a mouthful. Try "Ysterialpoerin", for instance.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: Particularly between Kellen and Vestakia.
• Vancian Magic: Some High Magick spells can be rendered into cantrips: cast mostly in advance and activated at need with a keyword. Since High Magick normally takes a while, this is practically required for combat spells like Lightning.
• Villainous Incest: Savilla and Zyperis.
• War Is Hell: The Demons lay waste to vast swathes of land, killing thousands, if not millions, of beings. It's not fun for Kellen, or Jermayan, or anyone else... okay, the Demons themselves and thier pets/lackeys are having a great time.
• We Have Reserves: The Endarkened do. The Allies don't.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Kellen and Cilarnen both have elements of this to start with.
  • Except that for Kellen, it's more of a "You suck, son."
• Wife Husbandry Jermayan is more than happy to wait for the newly reborn Idalia to grow up, ...
• The Wild Hunt: The Starry Hunt, summoned by Idalia in the third book. They're FULL OF STARS! And also badass.
  • The Outlaw Hunt is a rather more mundane version. Also rather sadistic as fleeing to safety beyond the lands of Armethalieh (and thus beyond thier reach) really is not an option despite the official claims that it is exile.
• Working Class People Are Morons: Most Armethaliehans are spectacularly uneducated about the world beyond the City Walls. This may not be the perfect trope, because most of the Mages don't know diddley, either.
• Why Couldn't You Be Different?: Lycaelon wanted a son that he could mould into the perfect aristocratic High Mage. Instead, he got Kellen, who hated his lessons in High Magic and preferred wandering around the more squalid areas of the city.
• You Are in Command Now: Shortly before the final battle near Armethalieh, Redhelwar, the Elven General in command of the Allied Army, transfers total command of the army to Kellen.
• You Can't Go Home Again: Idalia, Kellen, and Cilarnen after their Banishing.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Queen Savilla does this all the time, in particularly gruesome and painful ways. Examples of her victims are the poor Endarkened noble with whom she had an affair with and Anigrel after he delivers Lycaelon Tavadon to her. She also planned to do this to Prince Zyperis. Fortunately for him, he was killed relatively quickly before Savilla got a chance to have her way with him.