A temperamental mule, a wily master, secondhand shoes and apparently cursed. What else does the Cripple of Kilten have to put up with? Follow him, his disowned friend and a knife-wielding seeress-in-training into a world where magic oozes from the cobblestones, where cities can have tunnels instead of streets, and clusters of dragon-scaled towers are the abode of seers.

A fog of fear rises when the immortals who lived in secret among humans, stir as their arch enemies return. Sorcerers vie for a deadly but powerful staff in a circle of combat to be crowned champion of the beleaguered land. It is immortals against mortals - and immortals against immortals.