Assassin. Rogue. Demon's bane. Dragon-slayer. Kylac Kronus has been called many names, and earned every one of them. Months shy of his seventeenth spring, he is already the deadliest man alive. Nothing-be it man or beast-has been able to prove otherwise. Uncomfortable with his newfound fame following the War of the Demon Queen, Kylac seeks fresh adventure overseas, recruited by a band of outlanders under royal commission to escort a kidnapped princess back to her father, King Kendarrion, ruler of the Sundered Isle. They warn him that, to do so, he will brave tempest seas full of raging leviathans while seeking to evade those responsible for the princess' abduction-including a terrifying mutant left over from the days of the Mage Wars. Kylac readily agrees. But when the mutant proves as cunning as it is savage, the perilous voyage gives way to an even deadlier trek across a poisoned wilderness once home to the ancient Gorrethrehn-"Breeders"-a sect of magi known for their foul creation practices. Stalked by bestial denizens, treacherous companions, and horrors that his blades cannot touch, Kylac finds himself embattled as never before. For the mutant is relentless in its hunt, the island's terrors do not rest, and not even the deadliest man alive can hope to emerge unscathed.

Having foiled a ransom payment that would have delivered an innocent princess to ocean raiders, rogue bladesman Kylac Kronus finds himself in the middle of a generations-old dispute between the land-dwelling Addarans and seafaring Grenarr—with enemies on both sides. To win the trust of Addaran King Kendarrion and atone for his own recklessness, Kylac has vowed to seek and retrieve the king’s abducted heir, Prince Dethaniel. A vow that proves easier to make than to keep. Aboard a stolen Grenarr warship, crewed by a mistrustful regiment of Kendarrion’s hand-picked sailors and soldiers, Kylac ventures forth into enemy-controlled seas. Lacking direction to an already uncertain destination, his company is forced to make a desperate call upon the Sea Scribe, a mad Elementer and ancient relic of the Mage Wars, if they are to have any hope of finding their way to the archipelago wherein they believe Dethaniel to be hidden. But for every prospective ally, Kylac finds only new adversaries, and for every minor victory, a new snare is laid. While harried by vengeful Grenarr, primitive island natives, and bloodthirsty marauders, Kylac’s perilous voyage is made even more treacherous by sabotage, betrayals, and secret alliances that care nothing for his skills with a blade, and endeavor to undermine everything he means to achieve.

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.