Betrayed by those he trusted, Rayne falls prey to Sigmund’s trap. Alone and weak, he lashes out at the One, and turns his back on the quest for the scrolls. “I’m done. I won’t be your pawn anymore.”

With the help of a child-like ancient named Mite, Rayne finds acceptance in anonymity at the Camp of the Forgotten. But when the children of the camp are threatened, will he reveal the truth and come to their aid, or walk away?  And, if he accepts again his calling, will he have the strength to reclaim the three remaining scrolls, and defeat the approaching menace?

While Rayne struggles with his loss of faith, his friends on Corylus watch in alarm as the man they know as Prince Rayne denies his principles and claims power for himself. Suspicions escalate when the members of the Interplanetary Council die from a mysterious illness, and the young prince declares himself Imperial Emperor of all Ochen. With an enigmatic black cloud approaching across the Cameron Sea, and mind-altering shadows threatening all Ochen, will the new emperor prove himself the savior he claims to be?

Book 4 in The Seven Words series.

You’re the Lightbringer of the One, heir apparent to the throne of all Ochen. Your exploits are legendary and your influence is pervasive—and your body is inhabited by the malevolent spirit of your archenemy. What do you do?

In The Light Unbound, the fourth and final installment in C. S. Wachter’s The Seven Words series, Rayne Kierkengaard faces his greatest trial yet. Cast into the decrepit frame of an obscure old man, his spirit at last rebels against the path of sorrows charted for him by the One—the Creator Father—ever since his sixth birthday. For Sigmund, that sorcerous demon who stole his childhood has returned from defeat to steal everything Rayne regained through blood and tears—his power, his family, his very identity. All but his faith in a God who views death as but a portal to victory.

Ambitious in scope and relentless in speed, this novel concludes Wachter’s saga on a high note. As Rayne’s companions struggle to understand the sudden change in their prince’s behavior, the real Rayne, trapped in a senescent body, dodders onward to complete his quest and clear his name. To keep Ochen from enslavement, the task required of each one of them may be more than they can bear.

The story continues to reflect real life inasmuch as divine interventions deflate tension, but any surety this inspires in the reader proves short-lived. We don’t fear ultimate defeat so much as personal injury, for we know God often requires sacrifice, and so the suspense survives various dei ex machina. As Rayne ventures into the furthest and most fantastical regions of Ochen, tedious exposition may sometimes sap interest, but big twists and scenes of gut-wrenching emotion bring it rushing back. And the climax proves more than worthy of all the preceding struggle.

Best for: Older teens and adults.

Discern: Graphic violence, sadism, depictions of sorcery and drugs, references to vampirism and sexual assault, brief sensuality.