When the ex-slave named Nergal joins a party of heroes, he isn't looking for adventure, he's just looking for an easy meal But soon enough the impressionable half-sragn begins to feel a kinship with these men and women who are on an important mission to an abandoned castle. Dark forces are marshalling against them, and Nergal is seen as an asset in the quest to stop the evil that threatens their kingdom. Unfortunately for Nergal, he's done things that wouldn't go over well with his heroic friends. As he grows into a mighty force for good himself, Nergal must hide his past. He becomes drawn into a struggle between nations and the hunt for a monk-wizard that creates deadly monsters to aid the cause of an ancient sect's draconian rule over other peoples. The hunt will take Nergal to lands unknown and he will face challenges greater than he anticipated, but when the smoke clears there will be no doubts as to Nergal's true nature.