Dark magic has opened up a gateway towards the Forbidding and trapped within it Grianne Ohmsford, rightful Great Druid of Shannara. Rescuing Grianne will end up being merely the start of the effort to return the Four Lands for some semblance of peace. Only her youthful nephew, Penderrin, has any hope of coming back her to power. But to breach the Forbidding and bring Grianne back to the organic world, Pen must discover the fabled Tanequil . as well as the talisman it only can provide. Which means journeying in to the Inkrim-a dreaded region thick with shadows and haunted by harrowing legends. And there, Pen will strike a good deal even more dire than he could ever think about.