The world is crumbling. Fissures crack the shaking ground, babes are born with twisted limbs and the taste of apples is just a memory. Rostigan and the Priestess Yalenna must face those Wardens who remain bent on steeping the land in ruin and, somehow, close the growing Wound in the Great Spell. Standing in their way is a pitiless army commanded by a madman, a sky full of silkjaws and, worst of all, an old friend, once betrayed, whom they must now convince to join them again. There is only one thing for it ? Rostigan must break an ancient oath and use powers he has dared not touch, powers that could tip the balance in favour of the spreading corruption. Caught in a web of his own deceit, he struggles to live the lies he has spun, for if he cannot, Aorn itself may well be doomed