Willow goes to bed. As he's about to fall asleep, he rolls over onto his side and looks down - to find himself fully dressed and flying high in the air on the back of a dragon, which can read Willow's thoughts as well as speak. They fly over Nockmaar and approach Tir Asleen. The dragon, Calan Dineer, reveals many facts about the way the world works, and hints at a coming danger. They land at Tir Asleen just as Willow is about to ask about this danger. Willow suddenly finds himself alone, the dragon gone as if it had never been there.

Convinced that this must be a fantastic dream, Willow heads into the castle and literally runs into Madmartigan and Sorsha, who are settling an argument with some semi-serious swordplay. After conversing for a while, the Daikinis joke that 'Willow' is not a good name for the Nelwyn sorceror, because it 'bends too easily'. They decide that - between them only - he shall be known as Thorn Drumheller. Willow thinks this is nonsense, and exclaims that if he never sees them again, it'll be too soon.

He goes to see Elora, who is guarded by the brownies Franjean and Rool. They ask if Willow bothered to bring a gift for the young Princess. Willow is about to tell them no, when he impulsively puts his hand into his magical bottomless pouch and pulls out the bear. He says a spell of sorts, invoking part of his presence into the bear, and 'asks' it to protect Elora when he himself is not able to be with her. Agreeing that they can't leave Willow alone in his 'demented' state, Franjean and Rool slip into his carrying pouch.

In spite of his long search, Thorn still has no answer to the question of how this happened, or what he should do about it. But now another problem asserts itself. As a trained sorcerer, Thorn has perceptive abilities far beyond those of ordinary people. Normally this is an advantage, but now those abilities allow him to form a psychic bond with the blasted mountain. Forgetting all else, he sets about the eons-long task of rebuilding the mountain by hand, until the brownies instigate the eagles to physically drag him away from this task.

The brownies inform Thorn that a lone Daikini soldier and his horse have set up camp in the immediate vicinity. It is obvious that the Daikini had a recent encounter with Death Dogs and is expecting further trouble. Just after Thorn strikes up a conversation with the Daikini, the group is attacked by a Great Hunt of Death Dogs. After a long and bloody battle, the evil beasts are slain. But then Thorn is attacked by the Hunt's previously unseen human leader. This is a boy Thorn knows - who he helped bring into the world, in fact. Thorn is forced to kill the boy in self-defense, but realizes that the boy's soul has been turned into that of a Death Dog by a ChangeSpell.

The Daikini, Geryn Havilhand, is a soldier of the kingdom of Angwyn. Although he is displeased by the loss of his horse, he agrees to travel with Thorn. Further conversation reveals that Geryn was sent to look for Thorn by Maulroon, a merchant ship captain who is Thorn's friend, but until this point Geryn did not realize that he had found the person he was looking for.

The group travels to the place where Maulroon's boat is anchored, and set sail down the river. Maulroon is troubled by a recent Death Dog attack in the region, and by forebodings of worse to come. Thorn tells him about his own encounter with Death Dogs, and that the boy's presence as leader of the hunt means that the Death Dogs were pursuing him (Thorn); however, he doesn't understand why they should come after him at this particular time.

Geryn enters the conversation after he overhears them mention Tir Asleen, which is (was) on the opposite side of the world from where they are. Geryn excitedly tells them that the King of Angwyn sent 300 soldiers to Tir Asleen to look for the Nelwyn sorcerer Willow Ufgood, but that they found only an abandoned Nelwyn village and were unable to find Tir Asleen at all.

Geryn says that the King of Angwyn wants Willow to be present at the Ascension of the Sacred Princess Elora Danan on her thirteenth birthday, which is coming up soon. Ambassadors from the twelve Great Domains will attend this event, and it is important that Elora's godfather and rescuer, Willow, be there too. Thorn realizes that the Death Dogs' search for him is connected to this event.

As they travel, Thorn notices that he is being watched by a crew member, Ryn Taksemanyin. Ryn is a Wyr, a member of an intelligent, furry, Daikini-sized race that is more at home in the water than on land.

As they sail, Thorn spends much of his time remembering the past. In particular, he remembers the evening just before the Cataclysm, when the High Aldwyn came to see him. The High Aldwyn had forebodings of doom, and challenged Thorn to decide whether he was a wizard or a farmer. Thorn did not feel that these occupations were mutually exclusive. But in the morning, when he realized that something terrible had happened and that Tir Asleen had been destroyed, he chose the path of a wizard, setting out on his long journey without pausing to say good-bye to his family.

Geryn spots a sizable group of Maizan riding along the road next to the river. The Maizan are ferocious warriors whose homeland is far from Angwyn. The sight of them infuriates Anele - the Maizan ritually slaughter eagles and use dark magic to bind the eagles' spirits. She begins a diving attack on them; they see her and prepare to shoot her out of the sky, until Bastian diverts her attack. The eagles decide that it would be wise for them to go spend some time in a wild region of the kingdom. The brownies urge Thorn to go with the eagles, but he refuses because he wants to visit Elora in the city. The disgusted brownies stay with Thorn.

After Geryn, Thorn and the brownies disembark in the city of Angwyn, the ship immediately sets sail again. But the people in the city do not share Morag's fears; a festive mood prevails as preparations are made for Elora's Ascension. As Thorn and his party make their way toward the royal palace, they meet a troubadour who suggests that Elora is living in a gilded cage. They also observe a group of Maizan; riding with them is Princess Anakerie, the heir to the throne of Angwyn. She became the heir on the night of the Cataclysm; on that night, Elora literally dropped into the middle of the king's courtyard, Anakerie's brother disappeared, and her mother died.

Thorn puts a cloaking spell around himself and the brownies, so that anyone seeing them will not recognize them for what they are, but will think that they are a natural part of whatever is happening at the moment. As a result, a wagonner hauling goods to the royal palace mistakes Thorn for a servant and orders him to ride along with him. Once inside the palace kitchen, Thorn is mistaken for a page and ordered to take a cartful of food to Elora Danan.

Naturally, Thorn is not displeased by this order. Elora lives at the top of a tall tower, which is reached by using an ingenious lift. As Thorn and the brownies ascend the tower, they are deeply shocked when they sense that Night Herons - creatures as evil as Death Dogs - have a rookery outside Elora's tower. Faced with accumulating evidence of Shadow - first Death Dogs, then Maizan, and now Night Herons - Thorn is grieved that he has not been with Elora to help and protect her during the last twelve years.

Suddenly the wall behind Thorn starts to dissolve. He scrambles away from it, knocking Elora over in the process. The wall returns to its normal state, but Thorn's troubles aren't over; Elora starts hitting and verbally abusing him. She can see through Thorn's cloaking spell but doesn't recognize him. Thorn doesn't retaliate against her attack, but the brownies do; they go after her with their daggers, delivering stings that are painful without being harmful. Elora's screams take on a more serious tone. Fearful that the guards will show up this time, Thorn flees outside to a garden, which has a Night Heron in it. Elora follows him into the garden, greets the Night Heron as an old friend, and then both of them look at Thorn. He retreats back inside and down a stairway, until he is stopped by the sight of a black void where the wall ought to be.

A voice speaks to him, and he realizes that it is a Demon. The Demon warns him that people are coming to see him in the dungeon, and that all will be lost if they do not find him there. In spite of the reputation of Demons, Thorn does not feel that this one is evil. Ignoring the warnings of the brownies, he decides to trust the Demon. He steps into the black void and finds himself back in his cell.

Quick as a flash, Mohdri casts a ChangeSpell on Thorn. Anakerie is furious, but it's too late to do anything about it. As they are leaving, Mohdri pauses to gloat, telling Thorn that the Maizan brought the Magus to Angwyn, and that the ChangeSpell was cast at the Magus' command.

Thorn is left alone. He realizes that the spell is the same as the one cast on the boy who led the Great Hunt, but that the results will be slightly different for him because he is a sorcerer. First his body will be broken by the violent spasms he is already suffering, then both body and soul will take on the shape of a Death Dog; his intellect and powers will remain, bound to the Magus. He fights the spell with all his ability, but is alarmed at how his every move seems to have been anticipated. He knows he can not win.

Once again his consciousness merges with that of the Demon. In this condition he can view everything that is happening in the palace, and this distraction makes the spell even more difficult to perform. As many hours pass, his attention is drawn in particular to Elora and Anakerie, because of the bonds that he has with them. He even shares some of their memories as the preparations begin for Elora's imminent Ascension.

He sees how Elora has grown up surrounded by the utmost luxury and respect, but utterly deprived of love. She always has twelve high-ranking attendants, one from each of the Great Realms, but they are masked and rotated each month; she never knows their names or sees their faces. The elaborate preparations for the ceremony are symbolic of her life; although she is dressed with the utmost elegance, she is not permitted to eat or drink for many hours and can barely move or breathe. Her attendants fear her; no one likes her.

He sees Anakerie's resentment of Elora, and how years before Anakerie defied her father, the king, refusing to become Elora's first attendant and running away. In the present she defies him again, refusing to attend the Ascension ceremony. Instead she turns to military duties, assigning half the palace garrison to ceremonial duty and the other half to active guard duty.

He sees that many in the palace have no faith in Elora's ability to stand as champion for the twelve Great Realms and restore the proper balance between Shadow and Light. He senses that all is not as it appears to be in the quarters of the Maizan.

But before he can do anything else, he is attacked by two Maizan and a Death Dog. Thorn is too weak and disoriented to fight them, but the Demon child immediately gives battle. Although she is wobbly and unsure of herself, she kills the Death Dog. Thorn dispatches one of the Maizan, and the other is killed by Geryn, who suddenly enters the cell and informs Thorn that the Maizan are killing the Red Lions, Angwyn's most elite troops. Thorn orders the Demon child (who introduces herself as Khory Bannefin) to go with Geryn; Geryn is to find some clothes for her and some horses, and wait for Thorn by one of the palace gates.

Thorn needs to get to Elora in a hurry; the Demon tells him that he can pass through the stones of the building. He would never have believed it before, but his experiences with the Demon have widened his perceptions and he realizes that it is true.

Elora, meanwhile, has mixed emotions as the ceremony begins. Her tight clothes bring back the memory of being bound and helpless on Bavmorda's altar so many years before. Although she dreads the ceremony, she looks forward to the power she will have afterward. Unless she's been lied to again.

She enters the chamber. Hampered by her clothing, she advances slowly to the altar where Willow is waiting. She can not bear to look at him. As she advances, everything feels increasingly wrong. The audience is joined together by glittering gold threads; the only one not touched is Kieron Dineer, whom she realizes is a disguised dragon. The threads attempt to bind her as she passes, only to crumble as they come near. The room takes on a silvery glow as the moonlight comes through the chamber's skylight. Elora begins to feel sick.

Willow is chanting the words of a spell. Elora's memories begin to vanish and her body begins to stiffen, as if she is turning into a silver statue. In horror, she twice cries out "No!" Willow stumbles in his spell, then slaps her. Streamers of cold silver fire begin to swirl through the room, coming for her. She hurls herself away, knocking Willow down in the process. Infuriated, Willow prepares to send her back to the flames, telling her that she must be sacrificed for the good of all.

He goes to Elora's garden in an attempt to rejoin the brownies, but they curse him as a Demon and attack him. Thorn leaves without the brownies and joins Geryn and Khory at the palace gate. Behind them, the palace is burning with a rapidly spreading silver flame. The people of the city are behaving in a hopeless manner that makes Thorn realize that none of them will escape. The animals, on the other hand, are flocking to the city gates. When Thorn and his companions reach the gates, they find the guardsmen slaughtered and the impregnable gates jammed shut. Khory climbs to the top of the wall and reports that Maizan riders are approaching from outside.

Thorn magically blows the gates apart; the shock of the blast renders the Maizan temporarily unable to attack. Thorn's party leaves the city in the midst of an animal stampede that prevents the Maizan from reaching them.

Anakerie rides with the Maizan. She attempts to enter the city, which by now has been almost entirely consumed by the flames, but Mohdri drags her out. The flames stop when they reach the city gates. Mohdri offers her an honored place with the Maizan; with no real choice, she accepts.

In the morning, Thorn awakens to find Elora physically attacking him. Although the weather is still cold and very gloomy, there is enough light to see that Elora's skin has turned to a silver color, for which she holds Thorn personally responsible.

Suddenly, some local residents appear and take them all prisoner. They are taken to a roadside inn, roughly tied up and subjected to minor abuse while their captors send for the Maizan and wait to claim their reward. Khory acts brain-damaged, until one of the men decides to have some fun with her and takes her into another room. She starts a brawl at that point. Thorn assists magically, but they are greatly outnumbered. Thorn fears all is lost, until Ryn Taksemanyin comes crashing through the roof to join in the fray. The fight rages until they notice that the building is on fire, and all flee for their lives. Thorn and his party escape into the wilds.

As they sail across the bay toward the open sea, Anakerie rides to the point of land nearest to where the ship will pass. She shoots an arrow at Thorn. He realizes that she believes he is responsible for the ensorcellment of the city, and makes no move to protect himself. Khory plucks the arrow from the air before it can pierce his heart.

When they reach the open sea, conditions are worse than Thorn could have imagined. Soon the ship is leaking, and the pounding of the waves will quickly destroy it if they continue on their course. They are forced to turn and run before the wind, even though this will take them toward Angwyn, the direction they wanted to avoid. After they change direction they are in slightly less danger, but the situation is still grave.

The ship somersaults into the sea, and the rest of the wave crashes down upon it. Miraculously, the ship lands upright, but it is severely damaged. The storm resumes. Thorn must use magic to guide them to a relatively safe landing place before the ship sinks. Morag has been gravely injured, and Thorn is unable to save her because he does not have enough power to both heal her and control the ship. Their voyage is short-lived; the Deceiver disintegrates the ship with a dissolution spell.

The group struggles to shore. Thorn, Khory, Geryn, Ryn and Elora head inland, into a great forest belonging to Cherlindrea. This magical place should be warm and welcoming; but although the trees protect them from the wind, it is cold and there is an unnatural silence, as though there are no creatures in the forest other than themselves.

When they reach the top of a ridge, they can see that the forest is on fire - something that should be absolutely impossible - and the blaze is spreading rapidly. If they flee at maximum speed they may reach a safe place. Ryn is too badly injured for this, and Thorn and Elora are reluctant to leave him. Geryn tries to forcibly remove Elora from the scene; when he is prevented from doing so, he leaves on his own.

The others head into a nearby hollow. Thorn realizes that the Deceiver has unleashed a clutch of firedrakes on the forest; these deadly creatures have the ability and the desire to burn the entire earth to ash. As the fire moves across them, Thorn uses magic to protect the group from harm, but he can do nothing to stop the flames. However, Elora converses with the firedrakes and briefly becomes joined with one, after which the firedrakes simply leave.

Amidst the ruins of the forest, Thorn once more prepares to heal Ryn. He is interrupted by the sight of a magnificent stag, the king of the forest, who has been badly burned. Elora wants Thorn to heal both the stag and Ryn; he agrees to try, although he fears he does not have the strength to succeed.

The stag approaches Thorn, transforming into the form of a Daikini as he does so. The StagLord is Cherlindrea's consort, and a trial commences. Speaking to Thorn, he calls Elora Danan a Betrayer, responsible for Cherlindrea's ensorcellment and the destruction of the forest. Thorn defends her, saying that all of them, including Elora, have been deceived, and that Elora is the hope of the world.

At that moment the Deceiver makes his presence known, and the occupants of the room are attacked by the Maizan. Thorn is rendered helpless by a poisonous magic snare. The StagLord is slain, but not before he mortally wounds Mohdri, and the battle ends with the Maizan, Anakerie and Geryn (who has joined forces with his Princess) in control.

Anakerie is distraught at Mohdri's fate, and calls for a healer. Thorn is the only one present, of course. Anakerie asks the Deceiver to release Thorn from the snare if he will agree to heal Mohdri. They agree, and Thorn is released as once again the Deceiver begins to work the spell of assimilation on Elora.

Thorn and Elora feel the Deceiver coming; Thorn goes back into the stones for a sorcerous battle. The Maizan arrive shortly afterward and start a battle of their own. The Deceiver pulls Elora down into the floor; for the final time, she refuses his demand for submission.

Then, at Thorn's request, the mountain awakes from its usual sleeplike state and roars into volcano-like life. The earth trembles and falls into a vast, steplike shape; crevasses open; lava flows. The Maizan and the wounded Deceiver are on one side of the lava; Anakerie, Geryn, Thorn and the others are safe on the other side.

With horror, Anakerie realizes what has happened to Mohdri; nonetheless, she says that she must return to him because that is the only place from which she can help protect the world against him. When Thorn tries to talk her out of it, Geryn accuses him of being the real cause of all the problems that have recently beset the world. Geryn tries to run Thorn through with his sword; when Anakerie steps between them, he accidentally impales her instead. Using a rope, Geryn manages to swing the wounded Princess across to the Maizan, but is consumed by the lava himself.

After moving to a safer place, Thorn and Elora talk about how the fundamental patterns of the world have been broken; they must try their best to survive and rebuild it as a better place. Elora says that she misses her old stuffed bear, which protected her on the night of the Cataclysm and was the only thing that traveled with her from Tir Asleen to Angwyn. On impulse Thorn reaches into his magic pouch and finds the bear, placed there by the Demon before they left Angwyn.