It is 869 and Ard Mhacha remains the principal meeting place of the ancients. Within a land controlled by clan lords the monks tell its people how to act and what to learn, Mael MacConaill a privilaged young noble disregards the messages of God's path for him. When the monastery is raided by Ostmen, everything changes. Experience the survival of a young Irish hostage to a warlord. Mael is propelled into the chaos surrounding the Danish invasion of the British kingdoms. While the battle for the last Saxon kingdom ensues, Mael becomes an outsider in a pagan culture within a foreign country. Now as he learns to rely on his resourcefulness in a brutal chaotic realm, Mael finds his way through a clash of religious traditions in the battle for the last Saxon kingdom, which is brought to a teetering threshold of existence by the onslaught of pagan forces.