Gellion and his brothers have crossed the sea at last, equipped with information they are sure will prove the elves' defeat of Kaelo, but what they find in Faeran is infinitely worse than anything they could have imagined. Kaelo has raised a phoenix-the same demonic monster that terrorized the elves for two hundred years in the Great War. Kaelo intends to rid the world of vierstone, and with a dragon-like bird whose flames can destroy all the lifestone in a city in a few sweeping passes, his success is terrifyingly possible.

Against an enemy Gellion knows better than almost any elf alive, Gellion must overcome his fears of inadequacy and lead the elves in a final desperate fight for vierstone and all it represents. But only Eldian, Gellion's father, ever discovered how to kill a phoenix, and the secret followed him to his grave. As the phoenix's ambition grows and morphs, a fight for vierstone turns into a battle with much higher stakes, and Eldian's secret may be the only thing that can save the elves.