Elfkin. The very word evokes horror in the long-lived elven folk of the Emerin. The thought of elven and human blood mingling is unthinkable, intolerable. It is an abomination. The unnatural creatures evolving from such a union can only be considered monsters.

Elven mage Arien Mirida was living what should have been the perfect life. Lord High Librarian of Thanis, sharing a home with the lovely Alinora, friend and student of the Archmage Talus Yor, the curse that had plagued his family finally broken ... yes, all should have been well. Yet a shadow lingers over Arien's heart, a shadow in the shape of a young thief and the memory of a love impossible to forget. When adventure calls and brings with it the promise of a reunion with Cat Sabledrake, Arien is quick to accept the dangerous quest. In the mysterious southern reaches of the Emerin, the sinister elves known as the Morvalan are hard at work on a project that will destroy Thanis. The force behind the plot is Solarrin, a necromancer inhabiting the powerful body of a minotaur. As he finds himself facing orcs, Morvalan wizards, and even the dread warrior-priest of a god most elves dare not name, Arien must confront something even more terrible—the realization that Cat may be lost to him forever.

Once his body was as twisted as his mind . . . now his physical and magical prowess is without equal. He is Solarrin. Though born a gnome, his soul now inhabits the powerful form of a minotaur by means of the darkest of sorceries. Through murder and deciet, he has gained the title of Archmage of Thanis. His goal is nothing less than all-out devastation and war. The harrassment of a rag-tag band of thieves cannot stop him. The malicious spite of one bitter Librarian cannot hold a candle to his evil. The nobles dare not risk his wrath. And the only ones who might have stood a chance against him have fled on the ultimate fool's crusade—to try and bring his predecessor, the Archmage Talus Yor, back from the dead.