Darkness falls on the Great Green, and the Ancient World is fiercely divided. On the killing fields outside the golden city of Troy, forces loyal to the Mykene King Agamemnon mass. Among them is Odysseus, fabled storyteller and reluctant ally to the Mykene. He knows that Agamemnon will stop at nothing to secure the treasure that lies within the city walls, and he must soon face his former friends in deadly combat. Ailing and bitter, the Trojan king waits. His hope is pinned on two heroes: his favourite son, Hektor, the mightiest warrior of his age, and the dread Helikaon, who will wreak terrible vengeance for the death of his wife at Mykene hands. War has been declared. As enemies, who are also kinsmen, are filled with bloodlust, they know that some of them - men and women - will become heroes: heroes who will live for ever in a story that will echo down the centuries.