'A deep resonant peal rang out. Quentin puzzled over the meaning of this bell; he had not heard it before that he could remember. Suddenly it came to him. Alarm!' At dead of night, Quentin is suddenly woken. A mortally wounded knight has stumbled onto the threshold of the temple where Quentin serves as acolyte to the god Ariel. Now Quentin must choose - a life of ease, or an unknown path fraught with danger. Accompanied by loyal companions, he sets out on a life-changing quest which brings him into deadly conflict with Jasper, the usurper, and the evil necromancer, Nimrood. 'Impressive use of the tried-and-true formula of adventure sagas: romance, derring-do, a dreadful enemy and virtue trimphant.' Publishers Weekly