Nerak is dead, cast into the Fold's inky void - but the evil that controlled him and brutalized the people of Eldarn has escaped and taken both Lessek's key and Mark Jenkins with it. The hickory staff's magic revealed, it is now up to Steven Taylor to excavate the Larion spell table, to free Mark, and to seal the Fold - perhaps closing the gateway to Eldarn for ever.

In Pellia, Hannah and Hoyt mourn their friend Churn while Alen works to understand Milla's unlikely power. Rescued from Malagon's palace, the child prodigy will play a role in Eldarn's future, but with Mark Jenkins closing on the Malakasian capital, it is an uncertain future. Carpello Jax's shipments of milled bark continue to move north along the Ravenian Sea, making for the archipelago and the haunted encampment outside Welstar Palace. There, a revolting army of unimaginable strength awaits the arrival of its malevolent liberator.

Return to Eldarn with Steven, Gilmour, Garec and Brexan as they sail for the dangerous ports of northern Malakasia. In an epic race for the Northeast Channel, Steven will again be tested, because here survival means unlocking the mysteries of the Larion Senators.