Gowenna, the outcast Errish, is on the way to the "Mountain of the Gods" with the Satai Skar and Del in order to hand over the captured Vela there as ordered. Her free ship "Sharkaan" is sunk by the Dronte, the black ship, and she and the crew escape to a huge ice island. In search of a possible other port where they hope to find a new ship, they are constantly pursued and attacked by terrible, supernatural beings of the Dronte as they march beyond all strength through snow deserts and over almost insurmountable ice mountains.