While still seeking Namolos, Tika and her company learn that an ancient evil, believed to have been safely neutralised a thousand years before, is now beginning to stir. With the help of a mage councillor, the evil strengthens and comes close to gaining its freedom. Tika has to combat this evil rather than continue her search for Namolos, whose trail grows ever fainter.

When Tika vanishes, Farn collapses and is close to insanity. The First Daughter of the Dark Realm risks herself to retrieve Farn's mind, knowing that the young Dragon must be reunited with Tika. She believes that Tika is the only one who will be able to defeat the Crazed One.

A young slave girl flees from the Lord who owns her, choosing to die in the mountains rather than become one of his 'pretties'. When that death seems all too likely, she is found by one of the Dragon Kindred and Tika's life takes a twist she could never have imagined in her wildest dreams - or her worst nightmares.

Leaving Mim in control in the Northern Stronghold, Tika travels west to the lands where she was born a slave. She is searching for a mysterious being called Namolos. Meanwhile, in the lands of Drogoya, evil is growing rapidly with all too few people able to resist its force.

In the face of increasing troubles in the world, Tika and her companions discover Vagrantia, the hidden community of once-powerful magic wielders. After centuries of seclusion, the Vagrantian leader, Thryssa, has to decide whether to allow her people to participate in the affairs of the outside world.

Tika is faced with ever worsening problems in trying to locate the Splintered Kingdom. Increasingly she despairs of ever reaching the end of this chain of events, and of finding a safe haven for herself and her friends.