As the realm of Eron sits frozen in winter's grip, two men dare the frigid forests of the Wild to reach the citadel of their king; arrogant Eddyn, haunted by his past crives, and his bitter rival, Avall. But they cannot know that Avall's sister Merryn, has betrayed her homeland, and that the Ixtian army is massing on the border, primed to strikd an unsuspecting Eron. Yet in the hands of Avall and Eddyn rests knowledge that could alter the balance of power forever . . . in the service of unbelievable good----or unimabinable evil . . .