Thwarted by a string of treacheries in his quest to retrieve the abducted Crown Prince Dethaniel, rogue bladesman Kylac Kronus is returned to the Sundered Isle of Addaranth in shackles aboard a Grenarr colony ship. There he finds the worst come to pass: the capitol city of Avenell overrun, King Kendarrion and his armies chased into the wilderness, and the secret Grenarr overlord still very much alive—spared by Kylac’s own hand. To make use of his talents in hunting down and eliminating the final dregs of Addaran resistance, this so-called Stormweaver offers him his life for but a single act of allegiance. Slay his longtime ward, the hateful, half-blooded Princess Denariel. Unwilling to do so, Kylac looks to escape, help Denariel track down her vanquished father, and lead her scattered troops in the fight to reclaim their lands. More easily imagined than accomplished. For defeat has left the survivors pitted against one another—wary of spies, and divided in what their response should be. Without aid from foreign shores, any attempt to safeguard their remaining strongholds or retake Avenell would seem doomed to failure. But with the Grenarr pressing their advantage, there is no time to send forth missives—and no one to receive them. The realization leads Denariel to propose a desperate new course: a trek into the savage heart of the dreaded Harrows, in search of an ancient creature who might yet summon a force capable of driving the invaders from their lands. A force unlikely to distinguish ally from enemy. And if unleashed, sure to consume all.