The Songreaver's Tale Series by A.L. Hunter, Andrew Hunter

When the Dragon Lord’s army destroys the city of Brenhaven, ten year old Garrett is badly burned and left for dead in the ashes. Rescued by a mysterious sorcerer, Garrett finds a new life, and learns a grisly trade in Wythr, the tomb-city of necromancers. Now, with the help of a ghoul, a zombie, and a girl who drinks blood, Garrett must discover the secrets buried beneath the ancient city and find a way to end the Dragon Lord’s fiery reign.

Garrett, an apprentice necromancer, flees the tomb city of Wythr with the help of his friends, a ghoul who likes pies and the vampire girl he would follow anywhere. Can they find the lost army of the dead, rumored destroyed by the fanatical Chadiri Empire? Garrett must face his greatest fears as he tries to forge a new alliance that might turn the tide of the war.

On the road home from a hard-won victory against the armies of the Chadiri dragon lord, the young sorcerer Garrett encounters an insidious new threat, unlike any he's faced before. With the help of his friends, a ghoul, a vampire, and a girl who doesn't exist, he must find the secret of an ancient magic that slumbers far beneath the tomb city of the death goddess

Garrett must walk a perilous line between his duty to the sisterhood of the death goddess and his loyalty to the brotherhood of necromancers as he seeks to uncover the identity of a traitor in their midst. Yet it is his love for the vampire girl Marla that may prove his undoing when the secret of her true lineage comes to light... moreGarrett must walk a perilous line between his duty to the sisterhood of the death goddess and his loyalty to the brotherhood of necromancers as he seeks to uncover the identity of a traitor in their midst. Yet it is his love for the vampire girl Marla that may prove his undoing when the secret of her true lineage comes to light. All of this would be challenge enough for any young necromancer, even without the power of an ancient sorcerer king awakening within him, but now he's pretty sure that he's being followed by something very small and very angry. He's going to need a lot more zombies. less

Garrett once dreamed of returning to Astorra with an army of the living dead at his back. Now that he has, the prospect of bringing justice to the traitor prince seems more like a nightmare. A wall of shining steel and good men’s honor stands between the young necromancer and his long-awaited vengeance. Now Garrett must contend, not only with an army of knights seeking the glory of taking his head in single combat, but with the growing power of the Spellbreaker’s spirit within him... moreGarrett once dreamed of returning to Astorra with an army of the living dead at his back. Now that he has, the prospect of bringing justice to the traitor prince seems more like a nightmare. A wall of shining steel and good men’s honor stands between the young necromancer and his long-awaited vengeance. Now Garrett must contend, not only with an army of knights seeking the glory of taking his head in single combat, but with the growing power of the Spellbreaker’s spirit within him. He’ll soon learn that not even the dead rest easy in the shadow of King Cabre’s throne. Far to the south, Marla and her companions must search for the very birthplace of dragonkind to find what secrets lurk in the shattered ruins of the world that was. Could the Dragon Queen herself be hidden, somewhere in the misty depths of lost Uroe, or will the vampire girl be forced to search within for a way to stop the demonic Volgrem? Heads will roll (well, at least one) in Trials of the Twiceborn! less