Sister of the Light, Sister of the Dark. The Slave Queen, Death's Mistress. Nicci has gone by many names and faced many challenges, but now she faces her greatest test yet on a perlious journey into uncharted lands. 'And the Sorceress must save the world'. Guided by the witch-woman Red's mysterious prophecy, Nicci and her companions Nathan and Bannon make their way south of Kol Adair towards Ildakar, a fabled city shrouded behind time. But the grotesque omens on their path – severed heads on pikes, a monster born of dark arts, and a petrified army of half a million – are just a taste of the unimaginable horrors that await within the Shroud of Eternity.