For the first time in a thousand years, the Kingdom of the Isles has a
government and a real ruler: Prince Garric of Haft. The enemies joining
against him intend to destroy not only the kingdom but humankind as
well. The rebels gathering in the West outnumber the royal army and the
magic they wield can strike into the heart of the palace itself, but far
greater dangers lie behind those. On the far fringes of the Isles,
ancient powers ready themselves for a titanic struggle in which human
beings are mere pawns--or fodder! Reptilian and insect monsters from out
of the ages march on the kingdom, commanded by wizards no longer human
or never human at all. If unchecked, their ravening slaughter will sweep
over the Isles as destructively as a flood of lava. Garric, ripped from
his time and body, must make new allies if he and his kingdom are to
survive. His sister Sharina struggles with the chaos threatening the
kingdom as swords and wizardry both gather to bring it down. Their
friend Cashel, thrown into a place not of his world, faces each
succeeding challenge with the calm certainty that he will overcome it or
die, and that nothing yet has been able to kill him. And while her
comrades strive in their own fashions, Ilna studies a pattern more
complex than perhaps than even she and the skills she learned in Hell
can master. If she fails, humanity will never escape the web being woven
for it. Watching them all from the blackness of a tomb walled off in
time and space, the Mistress waits...And her fangs drip poison!
