A temperamental mule, a wily get better at, secondhand shoes and apparently cursed. What else does the Cripple of Kilten need to endure? Follow him, his disowned friend and a knife-wielding seeress-in-training into a globe where magic oozes through the cobblestones, where cities can have tunnels instead of streets, and clusters of dragon-scaled towers will be the abode of seers.

A fog of fear goes up when the immortals who lived in key among humans, stir as their arch foes come back. Sorcerers vie for a deadly but powerful staff in a group of combat to be crowned champion from the beleaguered land. It is immortals against mortals – and immortals against immortals.