In a land plagued by bitterness and uncertainty, Fiere of the Black Blade, the daughter of a sea nymph, goes on a journey to find a place where she can belong. But on the way, she becomes entangled in the stories of other heroes: Danon, the inexperienced prince who must find a wife who will continue the royal line; Akitta, the vain nymph who is cursed that no man may ever touch her; Brunengang, the beardless dwarf who betrays his own people; Laduin, the child from another world who wants to find his way home; and Shaava, the reluctant druid who must fullfill a prophecy from an unknown God, whether she likes it or not...a prophecy which sends them to the end of the world and back to either save the mythical world of Faerphilly, or destroy it.