Warautumn

While the Ninth Face, a dark religious sect, consolidate their grip on the capital city of Eron, far to the north King Avall's army attempts to rescue the king himself from imprisonment at Gem-Hold-Winter, now controlled by Zeff, a Ninth Face fanatic. But Avall is no longer there. Aided by the blind harpist Kylin, he has escaped from the hold in a blaze of improbable magic that transported the king and his closest followers to a dangerous wilderness. As the royal armies prepare for siege and Eron's capital seethes with growing rebellion, Avall and his comrades must retrieve the magical Lightning Sword—now lost by Avall's sister, Merryn—and make their way back to the embattled citadel. Only when Avall has regained the Sword can he march on Eron's capital for a final showdown with the righteous priests whose law is total obedience and whose god is total power.