The White Tree (The Cycle of Arawn #1)
Author: Edward W. Robertson
Desc: Secrets don't like to stay hidden. In the kingdom of Mallon all knowledge of the death god Arawn has been brutally quashed--but a teen named Dante has just found the dark god's holiest book. Within days Dante's attacked in the streets. Not by the city guard. By Arawn's own servants long-hidden. Two things save his life: a big-mouthed bodyguard named Blays and his own growing skill with the nether the shadowy power that fuels the world. But the attacks on Dante are just the first stirs of a larger threat. In the far north Arawn's followers are rallied by a priestess named Samarand. Mallon is burning. To save their homeland Dante and Blays will have to travel to a half-ruined city and assassinate the woman driving her people to war.