Ardhon is saved from the Draug and the mad Wizard Ch'Arn. The Crown Prince Taur and his circle of friends and Nomin, one half of the first pair of wolves created by Lord Eru on the first day, has attached herself to Taur as well seeing in him the hope of getting her mate returned to her side. All are heading for Belegraa; it seems that is where the final battle will be fought. Belegraa has been the site of so much slaughter and blood has soaked its lush fields until the Raa wonder if anything will ever grow in the fertile valleys ever again. Ch'Arn is fed up with the disobedient Raa. His punishments become more and more sadistic and severe, leaving so many dead and dying. Soulmates who have been tortured are ghosting, unable to break free of the pain and brutality Ch'Arn has put their soul bond through. Belegraa waits for her heart, her hope, and when Taur sets foot on the soil of his homeland once more, even the Ancient Mother cannot stop herself from shouting her joy. Despite all the secrecy to keep Taur hidden and their plans secret, Ch'Arn is informed of all they plan, and every time they venture out, Ch'Arn, is ready for them, knowing they were coming. Someone is telling him everything that is happening in the Rebel's Camp and their losses keep mounting up. Hoping to provoke Taur into a hasty response that would deliver the Crown Prince into his hands, Ch'Arn would destroy Taur, and finally bend the Tel'Raa to his yoke.Taur knows to win the war against Ch'Arn, they need to find the missing Third Elf of power to attempt any kind of victory, but so far, their search is fruitless, and they are losing more Ohtar than they can afford. The Lord Eru sends Taur a vision in his sleep, telling him he needs to listen to the Lady Etriel and seek the path to the very roots of their homeland.Deep, deep within the core of Belegraa dwells one of Lord Eru's greatest secrets, the Coia, who upholds and send out the magic that binds Belegraa together. She gives life to all that lives, breathes, runs, and flies with her master's power and oversight.Taur must find her on the strangest journey he has ever undertaken and learn all she can teach him about the terrifying truth of the wizard Ch'Arn's existence and the impossibility of how he needs to render him powerless, binding him and returning the wizard to be judged.While the Coia teaches Taur about Ch'Arn and the diabolical Charnel Throne, Taur stumbles on Etriel's story of the very First Ones, the elves Lord Eru made from living star stuff on the very first Day of Making. He learned the truth of his friend, Etriel, and her life and her tragic losses. But in her story, he learns the tale of the Origins of the Tel'Raa and how their lives were inexplicably tied together with the wondrous elves.Taur realized he had the answers to the Tel'Raa's lack of fertility, and their inability to use the magic the Ancient Mother gifted to them in the very beginning. But within the knowledge that was almost lost and forgotten during the Elf/Tel'Raa war, Taur discovered why the Tel'Raa were shifters. Without the Third Elf to complete the circle of power needed to destroy Ch'Arn, the Tel'Raa meet the wizard on the battlefield. Outnumbered and knowing they were powerless against Ch'Arn's magic, The Raa and the Elves go to war to try and save Belegraa once and for all. But the spy among them is getting the Ohtar slaughtered and Ch'Arn seems invincible. Unless Taur finds the Third Elf in time to prevent the complete slaughter of the Raa, everything will be for nothing. His people will be massacred. But Prince Taur knows that everything hinges on the Third Elf being found, but he is fast running out of time. The very roots of Belegraa resound with the screams of the dying as the blood of the Tel'Raa soak the fertile soil, as the Draug howl their savage song to their mad god Ch'Arn.
