Publisher's Synopsis
A young man's dreams of warfare and glory turn into a bitter nightmare
when an invading army, led by the Dark Champion Nevenka Nieroda
and his twelve Dead Captains, the Toal, besieges his father's feudal
fortress. Nieroda and the Toal demand the surrender of an ancient
artifact long-believed to be a myth. With the walls breached and his
family slaughtered-or worse-Gathrid flees into the wilderness beyond
his familiar castle walls.
Lost and alone in the woods, hounded by the Dead Captains, Gathrid
takes refuge in a vast cavern. There he discovers an ancient sword-
Daubendiek, the Great Sword of Suchara, the fabled weapon once
wielded by the legendary tragic hero of an ancient age, Tureck Aarant.
Daubendiek, a restless and thirsty blade, promises Gathrid the ability to
claim his vengeance. But as he begins to take that vengeance, Gathrid
starts to understand the terrible price that the sword will exact of him.
Enemies soon become allies and strange bedfellows abound as the prophesies
of an age swirl into chaos.
