A nameless evil stalks the land, preying on all that lives, human and demon alike. Only one man has the power to stem the ravening tide: Safar Timura, the greatest wizard of the age, whose matchless magic once raised Iraj Protarus to the throne of all Esmir--and then, when the king turned tyrant, destroyed him. Now Safar is done with the deadly intrigues of courts and kings. But when a brutal murder smashes the solitude of his mountain hideaway, Safar must lead his people on a desperate trek to safety--a perilous journey to fabled, far-off Syrapis, guided only by a magical vision and the words of a sorcerer long dead. And close at their heels evil follows like a rapacious wolf: Iraj Protarus. For the King of Kings has returned from the dead, hideously transformed--and thirsting for Safar's blood . . .