When Dragons Rage: Michael A. Stackpole

Book II of the DragonCrown War Cycle. At the head of her merciless armies, the tyrant Chytrine pursues her quest to become empress of the world in a brutal campaign of bloodshed and unholy sorcery. Her agents search the conquered lands for the shattered DragonCrown - if this is reassembled, she will be unstoppable. Opposing Chytrine is Alexia, Princess of Okrannel, as she fights to save the life of a mysterious human warrior accused of treachery, she assembles an unlikely alliance of would-be heroes: Resolute, an exiled Vorquelf, Kerrigan, a mage of uncertain potential and an orphan thief, Will, who may fulfill a prophecy or become its victim. Cover art by Ciruelo Cabral.