While the Ninth Face, a dark religious sect, consolidate their grip on the capital city of Eron, far to the north King Avall's army attempts to rescue the king himself from imprisonment at Gem-Hold-Winter, now controlled by Zeff, a Ninth Face fanatic. But Avall is no longer there. Aided by the blind harpist Kylin, he has escaped from the hold in a blaze of improbable magic that transported the king and his closest followers to a dangerous wilderness. As the royal armies prepare for siege and Eron's capital seethes with growing rebellion, Avall and his comrades must retrieve the magical Lightning Sword--now lost by Avall's sister, Merryn--and make their way back to the embattled citadel. Only when Avall has regained the Sword can he march on Eron's capital for a final showdown with the righteous priests whose law is total obedience and whose god is total power.