Since ancient days, the Empty Lands had stood between the eastern barbarians and the two-thousand-year-old civilization of Rome and the Church. For the Empty Lands were not really empty-they were filled with every evil from the darkest of mankind's myths, and one power more horrible than could be found in any myth. Now four puny humans set out to invade the heartland of the Evil. Each had a personal reason. Harcourt went reluctantly to rescue his long-lost fiancée, who had been seized by the Evil in a terror raid. Hoping it might restore the waning prestige of his abbey, the abbot wanted to recapture a fabulous prism in which the soul of a saint had been trapped by a great sorcerer. The Knurly Man, who was somewhat other than quite human, went to find the death that was kinder than what he knew must be his future. And the girl Yolanda-what her reason might be was a mystery hidden, at times, even from herself. She was seeking the answer to a question she did not know. They went secretly and in stealth. But already the word had spread through the Empty Lands, Their coming and their purposes were known. And the denizens of that Land were girding for war. And behind all the Evil lay the most ancient of dark Powers, waiting patiently for the victims whose souls should set it free. (From book cover)