All seems lost for the Elbrand and the people of the Regions. Tolth is a captive in Menden Maradass. Zard, the black knight, has returned, and with an army of stone-soldiers, has crushed the Elbrand in their forest hideaway. Corrupt Governor Demsharl controls the south from his castle in the City Amitarl. The north, meanwhile, is firmly in the grip of the Evil One who is dangerously close to unifying the Seacrest. Yet, bleak as things appear, there are chinks of hope. Flindas, Tris, and Leana arrive back in the Regions carrying their fragment of the Seacrest, and Kerran has begun to master the ancient secrets of the Wizards Way.