Counseled by an evil sorcerer, King Talwe has allowed Ar to fall into a fatal decadence. He has exiled his faithful lieutenant Paralan, and banished the concubine who is bearing his child to the barbaric outpost of Pleir. Now years later, the young herdsman Falon sets out on a mysterious mission to the border city of Tizare, accompanied by a world-be wizard and a half-wild child. Their quest is all that stands between Ar and an eternal nightmare of tyranny.