Paksenarrion—Paks for short—is somebody special. She knows it, even if nobody else does yet. No way will she follow her father's orders to marry the pig farmer down the road. She's off to join the army, even if it means she can never see her family again. And so her adventure begins... the adventure that transforms her into a hero remembered in songs, chosen by the gods to restore a lost ruler to his throne. Here is her tale as she lived it. Paks is trained as a mercenary, blooded, and introduced to the life of a soldier . . . and to the followers of Gird, the soldier's god.

Paks leaves the Duke's company to follow the path of Gird alone, and on her lonely quests encounters the other sentient races of her world. Paksenarrion must seek the fabled stronghold of Luap far to the west. The way is long, the dangers many—and none can say whether glory or ruin awaits.

Paks the warrior must learn to live with Paks the human. She undertakes a holy quest for a lost elven prince that brings the gods' wrath down on her and tests her very limits. Oath of Gold is the climactic final volume of the epic that Judith Tarr calls "the first work of high heroic fantasy I've seen that has taken the work of Tolkien, assimilated it totally and deeply and absolutely, and produced something altogether new and yet incontestably based on the master... [Moon's] military knowledge is impressive, her picture of life in a mercenary company most convincing. I'm deeply impressed."

Paksenarrion wasn't planning to submit to an unwelcome marriage and a lifetime of poverty, so she left her village with a plan and her grandfather's sword. And a few weeks later, she was installed as Duke Phelan's newest recruit in a company of soldiers for hire, her arms training about to begin. But when Paks sees combat, she's stabbed with an ensorcelled knife and barely survives. Then the near-misses start mounting up, raising questions about this young fighter. Is she attracting evil because she is a danger to them all? Or is there another reason malignant forces seek her life? Paks will face the spider-minions of the Webmistress Achrya, orcs and the corrupted men who serve blood mage Liart, Master of Torments. She will also earn the gratitude of elves and of her Duke. And through conflict she will learn she has powers of her own and a destiny. To become a gods-chosen Paladin of Gird, and a target for the ultimate torture.