Book excerpt: The Castle of Man, a huge towering castle that straddles an important mountain pass to the north of Tagaret, is besieged by ogres, goblins, yakis, and dark sorcerers. If it falls, the armies of the Dark One will descend on Tagaret to end the Ancient Prophecy. Far to the south of Tagaret, Emperor Hanchi and his hundred-thousand man army is moving northward, destroying everything in its path.