Erik von Darkmoor has trained well and fought valiantly in the service
of the Prince - and has risen up through the ranks to become a respected
leader of men. Though still young in years, both he and boyhood friend
Rupert "Roo" Avery - one of Krondor's preeminent merchants and one of
the Kingdom's richest men - have been aged by experience. And each has
an essential role to play in the cataclysm that is to come - as has
every warrior, tradesperson, thief, spellweaver, spy, royal, and subject
alike who stands to lose far more than life alone to the invading forces
of darkness. For a demon king has escaped a world already devoured to
feed on one consumed by chaos and war. A foul and terrifying thing, a
nightmare creature of dark and murderous nature, it seeks to own and
corrupt the very source of life itself. And soon more of its dread kind
will follow - unless the most powerful sorcerers in the embattled realm
can close forever a demon-spilling rift...and unlock a mystery far more
dangerous and profound than anything ever known before.