During a dangerous journey through the Thirteen Kingdoms, a witch girl and an outcast stableboy find their fortunes intertwined with nefarious agents seeking a powerful Spellkey.

Caitlin's training as a seer on the isle Chameol is interrupted by the return of the evil necromancer Myrrhlock, while her lost lover the Badger investigates an outbreak of madness in two of the lower kingdoms. Sequel to "The Spellkey."

In the conclusion to the trilogy that began with Spellkey and The Glass Salamander, Caitlin the Seer, Badger, and their children live peacefully in their world after rescuing son Bram from the elvish underworld.

The heart of the story is a journey made by two outcasts: Caitlin, a wild girl-child accused of witchcraft and sentenced to exile in the Abbey of the Ninthstile; and The Badger, a disapointing ward of the Abbot of Thirdmoon See, who has been ordered to escort her. As they travel through the Thirteen Kingdoms, they are pursued and observed by a myterious man with red hair who seems to defeat them at every turn and by Caitlin's own dark visions, which haunt her with the fearsome destiny they predict. The answer to it all seems to be Spellkey; finding it and solving its Mystery may mean destruction for the cruel rulers of the Pentacle and a solution for Caitlin an The Badger, who need one desperately since they are falling in love...