"Whisper Mountain is the lair of the beast," say the frightened mountain elves. "Beware the Shadow Demon, for it will hunt you down and eat you alive."

Whisper Mountain gets its name from the cries of ghosts echoing down its slopes, the souls of victims who have run afoul of the demon. Who in their right mind would venture into the deserted elfin temple?

But, according to a crazy old soothsayer, the mountain is the "key to everything."

Miss Simone agrees the mountain is worth investigating, but as leader of the village, she has more immediate problems to deal with. A squad of armed soldiers has just crossed over from the old world, bringing with them the strong possibility of an industrialized, technologically advanced human invasion that threatens the magical land forever.

The shapeshifters set off to the mountain, hoping all this talk of demons and ghosts is just superstitious nonsense. What they find there surprises everybody...