Miscellaneous “Lanie” Stones is the necromancer that Doédenna, god of Death, has been praying for. True, she’s always been more interested in books and pastries than in creating abominations and raising armies of the undead. But still—she lives to love and serve Saint Death. And damn it duodecifold, Saint Death needs her! Lanie has many talents—her powers of death magic are growing more complex and stranger every day—but first and foremost is her ability to lay the unrestful dead to their unending slumber. Unfortunately for Lanie, the most restless of these “unrestful dead” happens to be her own great-grandfather, the powerful necromancer Irradiant Stones. After having escaped from his temporary prison, he is possessing people from all over the realms, sucking them dry of their magic and discarding their bodies when there’s nothing left to take, growing stronger and stronger all the time. His ultimate goal? To return to the icy country of Skakmaht, where he died, and finish conquering the North for his own. First the North—then the world! After Irradiant takes care of his pesky great-granddaughter Lanie, that is: the only person on Athe who can stop him. Lanie must embark on an epic road trip across the realms to stop him. With her unlikely companions—an undead flying tiger rug, her Falcon Defender best friend, and a former-foe-turned-ally who has every reason to hate her family—Lanie must first journey across Leech to parlay with its Witch Queen and her shapechanger subjects. Then she’ll venture into Umrys-by-the-Sea, where gutter children are going missing at an alarming rate and the King’s Saint is too afraid to leave the palace. Always one step behind her devious grandfather, Lanie will have to breach the heart of Skakmaht itself to stop him before he possesses a body that will make him well-nigh invincible: that of Samu Skrathmandan, the most powerful sky wizard Skakmaht has ever known.