The further translation of a manuscript from the lost civilization of Edil-Amarandah which chronicles the experiences of sixteen-year-old Maerad, a gifted Bard, as she seeks the answer to the Riddle of the Treesong and continues to battle the Dark forces.

Cadvan of Lirigon, one of the most brilliant Bards of his generation, has been exiled for a terrible crime that unleashed the power of the Bone Queen and wrought destruction across Annar. Meanwhile, in Lirigon, several unnerving events suggest that the Dark is growing in strength again, and that the Bone Queen may yet lurk in the world. Cadvan must once again face the evil that almost destroyed him.