Thousands of years ago, the great continent of Elyrion was broken into five pieces by the vengeful god, Relios. The pieces became known as the Five Shards: the Heart, the Blade, the Eye, the Crown, and the Fist. Eadwyn Redway, king of the Heart and the Blade, seeks to re-unify the Five Shards under his rule. However, not all of his subjects share his ambition and rise up to oppose him. Before Eadwyn can conquer the remaining three Shards, he must first extinguish the uprising in his own land. A bloody war ensues, wreaking havoc throughout the Heart. Refugees head to the Ironleaf Forest, where legend holds that the Daughters of Tairol will offer protection to the widows and orphans of war. As Eadwyn's war presses on, the Daughters soon realize that they will be overrun by runaways. They must take action to stop Eadwyn. The Daughters kidnap Queen Malkyn and Prince Boric, in hopes that it will halt Eadwyn's march. The plan succeeds. But Eadwyn's hawkish advisers convince him to dispatch a ruthless order of assassins, the Ebon Spider, to infiltrate Ironleaf Forest and retrieve the queen and prince. Abbey