The Shardheld Saga Series by Paul E. Horsman

Muus is only a thrall, a chattel without rights, but he knows the small, blue shard he picked up belongs to him alone. His commonsense saves their lives from cold and starvation. Kjelle, heir to the Lord of a rich mininghold, is spoiled, and covetous of his thrall's tantalizing find. His greed causes an avalanche that leaves both young men marooned on an icy mountain slope. Birthe, young wisewoman and huntress, mother of baby boy Búi, is brave and clever... moreMuus is only a thrall, a chattel without rights, but he knows the small, blue shard he picked up belongs to him alone. His commonsense saves their lives from cold and starvation. Kjelle, heir to the Lord of a rich mininghold, is spoiled, and covetous of his thrall's tantalizing find. His greed causes an avalanche that leaves both young men marooned on an icy mountain slope. Birthe, young wisewoman and huntress, mother of baby boy Búi, is brave and clever. She knows her way through the snowy wilderness of the Norden and her songs are filled with magic. Now they are bound together on a danger-laden journey to a lost and burning land, where Muus needs to connect the skyshard to the Kalmanir, the standing stone that is the world’s fount of all magic. The Kalmanir's time is almost up and it urgently needs to be replenished before the magic of Gods and men runs out. The two boys have to learn to trust each other, for all around them, enemies abound. Rebels threaten both the kingdom and Kjelle's holding, and a tribe of mad idolaters is trying to recall the banned primordial Old Gods. Even more imminent is Muus' danger, for it comes from nearby, from the shard itself. An action-packed adventure in a snowy land full of betrayal, rebellion and danger. less

Muus, Kjelle and Tuuri; three young men, separated by allegiance but intertwined by Fate. Birthe and Moirra; two young women with their own goals. Muus found the mysterious blue stone that crashed down near his home. Now he is both a Runemaster, learning the terrible power of the runes, and the Shardheld, on whose shoulders rests the fate of the world's magic. He is desperately trying to resist the pull of the skyshard before it takes over his mind... moreMuus, Kjelle and Tuuri; three young men, separated by allegiance but intertwined by Fate. Birthe and Moirra; two young women with their own goals. Muus found the mysterious blue stone that crashed down near his home. Now he is both a Runemaster, learning the terrible power of the runes, and the Shardheld, on whose shoulders rests the fate of the world's magic. He is desperately trying to resist the pull of the skyshard before it takes over his mind. Step by step, Fate brings him nearer to Falrom, the Burning Land, and the standing stone that waits for the skyshard. Kjelle is the dispossessed Lord, whose disgruntled men are the Norden's line of defense against hordes of Fynni barbarians plundering the lands. He has to stop the Fynni from reaching their goal, the return of the Old Gods and with them, all the horrors from the distant past. Tuuri, follower of the powerful warlord bent on conquering the north. Troubled by doubts, hatred of his Fynni heritage, hunted by both sides of the conflict, he hurries south to a choice he doesn't yet know he has to make. Birthe, widow and mother at sixteen, both Völva - mistress of the magic of the Nords - and huntmaster, accompanies Kjelle in the hope of finding a new purpose now everyone she loved, is dead. Moirra, the Un-a-Dach druidess, small, doughty and wise, joins Muus on his journey to Falrom, the Burning Land. But she has secrets in her past, and a purpose she doesn’t speak of. And there are others, like the far too clever little boy Hraab, the young Prince Ottil, the fearsome bear berserker Ajkell and the Lady Paladin Valiantrude. Join them on their journeys through danger in the lands of Brytanna, Gaul and Lotharn, for theirs is high adventure in a world filled with rebels, Vikings and idolaters of false Gods. less

Shardheld, the third and final book in the great Shardheld Saga, epic fantasy for both Y.A. and Adults. Muus’ fateful journey as the Shardheld nears its end. After braving the dangers of the desolate Sea of Rom, he and his friends reach the Empire of the Baljaren. Here, he decides to slip away decides to slip away from his friends and finish his fateful journey alone. In the dead of night, he leaves the Imperial palace for the fast naval galley that will bring him across the sea to Gaul... moreShardheld, the third and final book in the great Shardheld Saga, epic fantasy for both Y.A. and Adults. Muus’ fateful journey as the Shardheld nears its end. After braving the dangers of the desolate Sea of Rom, he and his friends reach the Empire of the Baljaren. Here, he decides to slip away decides to slip away from his friends and finish his fateful journey alone. In the dead of night, he leaves the Imperial palace for the fast naval galley that will bring him across the sea to Gaul. From there he plans to cross the Barrier Alps into Falrom and seek for the Kalmanir stone he must revitalize. Neither his friends, nor the Gods, nor even his bitter enemies, agree with his decision. The druidess Moirra has sworn to stay with him till the end. She, by now wise to Muus’s ways, follows him secretly on board the Imperial galley just before she sails. Hraab and Prince Ottil, shocked from their sleep by the angry God Iowynh, manage to lie their way into the next galley to Gaul and follow them. Meanwhile from the North, Kjelle and Birthe travel toward the Barrier Alps. Kjelle wants to aid his former slave as best as he can and the Gods have given Birthe her own task in the whole undertaking. Tuuri, finally free of his oath to the false Jarl Rannar, goes south as well, intend on warning the Shardheld of his former master’s plans. Finally Rannar himself, with the Fynni high shaman Rev, slaughter their own way to the Barrier. They want the skyshard and feed its magic to their own Old Gods. The last race is on. To Falrom! Will the Shardheld win, and restore the world’s magic? Or will foul Rev succeed, and bring back the cruel primordial Age of the Gods Before? Follow Muus’s final journey to its moving completion in this third book of The Shardheld Saga. less