The long way home . . . The poison tree path is Shara's road home . . . if she and her companions can survive the journey. In the danger and darkness of the forest, the only respite she finds is in the story unlocked in the Old Tongue book. In this vivid world, Shara finally discovers what she has longed for all her life: the key to the secrets of her past. Yet time is running out for Shara-and all of Tirragyl-as Lord Lucian, King Alexor, and the royal army attack the Guardian Grotto to claim the powerful Guardian Rock. Unwilling to sit idly by as her kingdom is destroyed, Queen Nyla leaves her hiding place to recruit a most unlikely army-the Charab. But how can she win over the infamous assassins who have been oppressed by her family for generations?