Fifteen years have passed since Daraks quest. His son is now apprenticed to the villages Tree-Father. Keirith unwittingly commits sacrilege by using his gift to commune with other creatures, the crime for which the evil shaman Morgath was destroyed.But a more immediate danger threatens the people of the Oak and Holly: the burgeoning power of the ancient enemy who drove them from their ancestral lands.When Keirith is kidnapped, Darak sets off in pursuit. Their paths take them to the heart of a distant city where both father and son must confront their darkest fears in order to survive.