Azzadul, the god-king, the Lord of Light revered by many. When the darkness corrupted him, he became the Dark Lord, feared the world over. His magic, once a gateway to immortality for his people, delved instead into horrors as he sought ever deeper levels of mastery. Children were stolen from their beds, coveted for his blood-rites. When he vanished, it all ended, and the people of the world tried to forget, to move on...

Jak Fuller has been bound to a magic he does not understand. Adopted into the household of a mysterious man, he grew up in Fort Lasthall trusting that somehow it would all work out. He did not expect his home to end up in ruins, nor his would-be father to end up dead, nor to have a bounty on him tied to the heart of Azzadul's former Underworld.

Jak will run, how he will run, yet can he outrun the darkness that is now tied to his soul? He will sail far away, lead the life of adventure he once dreamed of, but can he outrun the shadow-man who stands over his bed sometimes when he awakens at night?

Once, he wanted to be somebody. Once, he dreamed of the powers of Azzadul and the Dwarf Men of old. Now, he wants more than anything to be nobody, to start life fresh and experience the pleasures of the world denied to him during his former life of devotion.

And it just might be too late...

Ruin & Escape is the second part in the 5-part serial publication of A Thousand Roads.