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There is a vast difference between wizardry and sorcery, a difference embodied in the conflict between the shadowy immortals Mauryl and Hasufin.
Tristen is a weapon in that ancient war. A summoning and a shaping, brought to life by the wizard Mauryl, Tristen has yet to see his first winter, though he has the shape and the memory of a young man.
Tristen's rule in Amefel is blessed with two extraordinary friends: one a stalwart and simple warrior, the other with more than a drop of aetheling royal blood. But the scarlet banners of war are unfolding again, and far more than a kingdom is at stake.
Cefwyn's dream of a united Ylesuin and a love match with Ninevrise is threatened by ambitious lords and narrow religionists to whom all magic is evil. The "sparrows" of Elwynor are gathering on the border, pitiful refugees from the gathering storm.
And Tristen must take up the sword and the Sihhe magic he has forsworn. For he is destiny's own, created a combatant in a far older and more fearsome conflict than any ever imagined by mere mortal man.
