The Dalemark Quartet, Vol. 1

It is a country divided by war. For centuries, the earldoms of the North and South have battled. Now, four young people from different times -- with the help of their mysterious gods, the Undying -- must unite to save their beloved land. Traveling musician Moril has inherited a cwidder said to have belonged to one of the Undying. Can he learn to harness its strange powers in time to prevent an invasion? To avenge his father's death, Mitt has joined a plot to assassinate the tyrannical Earl Hadd. But when everything goes wrong, he finds himself on a storm-tossed sea in a boat with his enemies.