The quest of the Seven Swords has put terrible power in the hands of madmen - and unleashed catastrophic war. Ridmark Arban is the Shield Knight, the only Swordbearer in the realm of Owyllain. He is allied with the noble King Hektor Pendragon, who fights to reunify the Seven Swords and to end the destructive war they have unleashed. But the tyrannical King Justin Cyros is marching to war against Hektor, and King Justin knows the secret of the malevolent New God, a secret that will kill everyone in Owyllain. Meanwhile, the Necromancer of Trojas wields the Sword of Death, and with it he has summoned a vast host of the undead. Unless Ridmark Arban can stop him, the undead horde will conquer all the realm of Owyllain. But the city of Trojas holds other secrets. And one of those secrets might kill Ridmark and destroy Owyllain....