The sacrifice is made, the well opens, and the stone that entombs the severed head of the Crooked One falls to dust. Come to build a kingdom of the Sunless, he will banish death by consuming the living. Lyleth and Hugh Cavendish pursue their daughter deep into the buried fortress of Caer Sidi, the realm of souls of the sacrificed who are enslaved to their lord, the Crooked One. But they soon discover that the only one who can kill the immortal god-king is the blood scribe who shaped him.