Meanwhile Coll and Duke Martin have set their shadowy schemes in motion in Dyntalla where Quazar is keeping the princess from death with all he has.  What will King Oakarm do about Duke Martin's treachery when he arrives? Will Matty the one-handed whore get her wish? Can two High Wizards of the Royal Order hold off the ogres, and the even darker thing that is seeking the Bloodstone? And what will happen on Dragon Isle, where our hero and his friends have become little more than prey under the revealing light of Aur's Moon.