Erik has killed men. Their deaths haunt his dreams. He sees visions of his tortured family every time he closes his eyes. His only hope now is to continue to push forward, pray for the souls of the men he has killed, pray that the dreams of the dead will one day stop, and pray that his family is all right, that he will one day see his mother and father and little sisters again, just as he left them.

He never wished for adventure, never wished for fame or fortune, but it seems they will come his way regardless. As he travels with men he doesn't trust and dwarves who seemingly do not trust him, he tries to hold on to who he is, who he was, who he wants to be. The only people he might truly find solace in -- his brother Befel and his cousin Bryon -- are so self-absorbed they have no time for him.

Erik will travel into new lands and meet new people. His quest for the Lord of the East's heirloom in some ancient, lost dwarvish city will shatter his world. He will have to rebuild that world, everything he knows, only to have it shattered again. He will not only fight men and monsters, but he must fight evil, death, hatred, and darkness. And as Erik continues to wonder how much more blood will stain his hands, dark clouds loom overhead, carried by dark winds.