For 14-year-old Evan MacKeth, the arrival of Julian Antony Vorenius at the fief in O'Byrne seems to promise a welcome respite from the boredom of another summer spent with his mother. Instead, Evan finds himself a hunted fugitive, driven into the desolation of the Iarlaithe Mountains by his half-brother Osric and the Priesthood of Moloch. Exiled in a hidden valley, Evan grows to young adulthood under the protection and tutelage of Julian, who teaches the bitter, angry boy the way of the warrior and the mysterious truths about the One True God, Iosa Christus, and the Warriors He calls into battle. But then the goblins come, and the pair finds themselves back in Glenmara where Evan's desire for vengeance separates him from his mentor. Alone, he sets himself on the path to kill his half-brother, now High King Osric, and to reunite with his childhood sweetheart, Ivrian Ceallaigh. Yet powerful forces are pulling him in the opposite direction, and soon Evan realizes that his path must lead to a blue-eyed girl named Aine and a terrifying battle against a creature from the very heart of darkness.