Against the raging swords of the enemy . . . they sent one man. Brand protects the king, but every bodyguard before him is dead. A horde of mankind’s ancient enemies lays siege to Cardoroth city. During the day, the clang of blades, the mad shrieks of the foe and the hiss of swift-flighted arrows cuts the air. At night, the sorcerous chanting begins. Brand ignores it all. His duty is to shield one man from death. But fate forces him to leave that man in deadly peril, for the king he swore to guard sends him on a last-chance quest to save the realm. Enemies track him across strange lands. Beasts of foul magic stalk him. A beautiful but deadly girl aids him - for reasons of her own. She reveals that more is at play than the fate of kings and realms. Ancient forces, drenched in long-forgotten blood, seek to plunge the world into the dark. The odds pile against him. But he is Brand, and not for nothing did he earn the king’s trust.

Brand is a warrior . . . but he fights a battle beyond any skill of blades. The forces of the Dark are rising, and the Light is not gathered to oppose them. Brand takes up the task, but he is a simple man, already grappling with a great burden. To survive, he must become more than he is, but in doing so he will open himself to powers that will change him forever. In the north, the enemy lays siege to the city he loves and threatens all who bravely defend it. Time slips away, for even great courage has limits. To the south, the Dark grows and reaches across the land. But Brand strikes out to the west, for that way lies his only hope. But hope is a perilous thing. In this case it takes the form of a mysterious girl. In her he trusts. She alone can help him, and he alone can help her. Yet she also has a task. And her choice, of Light or Dark, is not yet made . . .

Fate is not finished with Brand … and his future is beyond imagining. The city of Red Cardoroth lives up to its name. Blood stains its mighty battlement. Countless bodies, the remains of the horde’s spent attacks, lie without. Yet the dark host still lays siege, a seething mass of hate-filled enemies, and nothing but total slaughter will sate their lust for revenge. The king can no longer just defend – or the relentless swords of the enemy will be victorious. He must seek a way to pluck victory from inevitable defeat. And Brand, newly aware of his great destiny, must choose whether to embrace it, or to run. This is the final book of the Durlindrath Series.