Book excerpt: Llyat Emgar, the seventeen year old runt of Maplehill, and Methladon Heyn, three years his elder and much more robust, witness their families destroyed by an evil that comes in the night. A mysterious foe is at work in the wild lands and may in some way be linked to the serial killer reaping havoc in the Capital. A sullen bard with deep secrets of his own is tasked by the Sovereign to bring an end to the resurgence of a deadly cult. Meanwhile the city watch of Parandor is ordered to catch the murderer. The trail will be long, convoluted, and dangerous. The stink of death is in the air.