Forest of Stone - Forest of Stone, #1

For decades, the nation of Yodren has been beset by a deadly plague in the form of an ever-expanding forest of stone that consumes everything in its path. Cities and towns rely upon the protection of the Scribes, trained at the prestigious University of Kasvaun, whose runes are the only force capable of keeping the Forest at bay.

Until one night, every Scribe in the once-great city of Nizwel vanishes without a trace.

Vaster Golt, Nizwel's most notorious young criminal mastermind, has finally reached the end of his career. Days from certain death, he's visited by an enigmatic stranger with an offer to make. If Vaster agrees to help find the missing Scribes, he walks away with his life.

The catch? He must venture out into the dangerous wilderness in the company of a team of similarly doomed yet talented criminals, all of whom are hiding secrets as great as his own. The chances of them refraining from betraying one another on their journey are only a little higher than the odds of finding the Scribes before the stone forest devours their home.

Still, Vaster learned to survive in a city in which only the unscrupulous prosper, and he's never been inclined to back down from a challenge…