The great Dwarf King Ansil confronts a vicious god amidst the ruins of manmade Zorel. The king successfully slays the all-seeing serpent, isolating its tail, with its many eyes, which he immediately makes use of, revealing his traitor to be his own second-in-command, named Gredyl. The dwarf King buries the tail. Meanwhile, the dying god, never truly dying, plots his revenge. Cheron and Candide of the North Wood slay a village of elves to extort their secret taken from Arlot.

Rapheh the scholar and Belphesor the soon-to-be Fell King become unlikely allies in the imminent Wizard War. Both decide to share the rule of the coming Abysine, with Rapheh's University owning the east and the wizard within Therestian governing the west.

Thokil the Younger befriends Batkin, the blood heir to the dwarven throne, but kills him when he fears for the continued well-being of all the dwarves. Wizard Belphesor fears for the health of his mother Tisiphone and recruits the scholar Rapheh to make her better, but she flees her son before he tells her of his plans for her throughout the Wizard War.

King Chase receives his army, the Wk Du, from young Vuillard. Lord Brokil of the Clevrilites is nearly slain by dwarf King Xendyl as both fight for control of Sturm. Thokil the Elder rescues Lord Brokil. Thokil the Younger gains the trust of the beggar boy Batkin, the true heir to the throne of Sturm.

Candide and Cheron become trapped in Arlot, and very nearly lose their lives. But Pren-Hooke of the halfbreeds rescues them, for a price. The three lead their armies for the dwarven kingdom of Sturm. King Chase meets a mysterious boy on his way east, as he looks to build his army. The strange boy, Chase learns, at a very high cost, has become a King even greater than the prophecied leader of the Dragonbred.

Thokil the Elder is prepared to slay every member of the treacherous Royal Guard, including his own son, but most are spared once Gredyl intervenes. Thokil the Younger respects Gredyl and offers his services to the blind veteran and the King he intends to hand Sturm over to. But Thokil must prove his loyalty to the One King Ansil, to whom Gredyl intends to hand over Sturm. Thokil the Younger must find the boy Batkin and save him from harm. Meanwhile, Cheron and Candide enter empty Arlot for secrets, and intend on slaying the elves in their company to have that treasure revealed.

Pindar and Poscoe, whose unborn son is the promised King of the Elves, are captured by Couvre and the pilgrims of village Bloody Tunic, seized for the cruel purposes of god Rigor. But a mysterious bald figure rescues the pair and liberates them. They flee, but the village succumbs to the armies of Rigor and his allies. Bertyl, the dwarf guilty of killing Trindayl the king of Sturm, fears there are traitors among his twelve lieutenants. Bertyl orders Thokil the Elder to interrogate each. Including his son Thokil the Younger.

The halfbreed King Pren-Hooke confesses his culpability in participating in the murders of the people of Copperweal. The humans desert his army. The elves are complicit with the dwarves. Cheron leads his army into Arlot. Lord Brokil of the dwarven Clevrilites, boasts that King Ansil, the One King of the united nation of the dwarves, will rule again. According to him, the War of the Races is imminent. The elves Pindar and Poscoe conceive a son, an unheard of act among the elves. The boy is destined to become the King of the Elves. But a wizard is intent on slaying the unborn child.

King Trindayl is slain, precipitating the Dwarf War. Elf Pindar learns his wife has fled Castle Wren and must be in the village Bloody Tunic. King Pren-Hooke of the halfbreed elves, once the humans learn of the hybrids' treachery in Copperweal, plans to eradicate the humans within his ranks, but Lord Brokil of the dwarven Clevrilites prevents that from happening.

Gredyl escapes the elven village of Arlot with a leather-bound book, a weapon, if in the right hands, could kill a god. A contingent of elves escort Gredyl to the dwarven kingdom of Sturm, but not before crippling him. Cheron and Candide, informed of the value of Arlot by a murderous elf, arrive there too late. They head for Sturm, ahead of their army. In Sturm, Gredyl confronts King Trindayl, telling him his father Ansil has returned to reclaim the dwarf nation.