In pursuit of the wizard Thulsa Doom, Cormac mac Art and his giant red-beared companion Wulfhere Hausakluifr have traveled far and suffered much. At last, the sorcerer is theirs, imprisoned in the only way his magic cannot overcome: impaled with two long swords on the mast of Cormac's ship. Bas the Druid reads the prophecy: "The skull of the undying wizard severed and wrapped in good leather must be put into the hands of a crowned woman. She must pound the skull into dust with an iron hammer..." But even as the Druid speaks, Cormac's ship seems to shudder- and suddenly the familiar shores of Eirrin are no more. For the wizard, unable to escape his fate, has vanished into another dimension - and taken his captors with him!