An army of darkness marches on the Shining Mines, stronghold of the light for a thousand years. At their head is the shadowmander, an unstoppable monster created from the souls of the dead. A forgotten race stirs in Whisperwood, led by Corlas, who has been granted ancient powers by a banished god . . . and Fahren journeys with his old enemy Battu to the Morningbridge Peaks, where he is given a task that shakes him to the bones.