Farlander by Col Buchanan

The Holy Empire of Mann, ruled by the Holy Matriarch Sasheen, is slowly but surely conquering all the lands bordering the Mideres Sea. One of the last areas desperately holding out against the Empire’s onslaught is the island of Khos, and it's on this island that Nico, a teenager living with his mother and a succession of her boyfriends, decides to run away from home and create a better life for himself. But living on the streets turns out to be harder than he expected, especially when his first attempted robbery goes horribly wrong. When Ash, the intended victim of Nico’s botched burglary, surprisingly offers to take him on as an apprentice, thereby saving him from cruel punishment, it’s an easy decision for Nico to make – even if this means that he will enter the order of Roshun, a secretive religious sect that’s equal parts Zen monks and elite assassins tasked with enacting vendetta if one of their clients ... Read More