From international bestseller Glen Cook comes the eighth book in the chronicles of the Black Company - the series that forever changed the face of fantasy.

An earthquake has left the Shadowlands vulnerable, and the Black Company must move swiftly to seize the advantage. Marching south in the depths of winter, they navigate fragile alliances, rival sorcerers, and weapons of shadow-sorcery in their mission to reach the fortress of Overlook, where the last Shadowmaster is rebuilding his power - and where they hope to defeat him.

For the Company's Annalist, Murgen, ghost-walking has made him indispensable - and increasingly unmoored from the living world. As battles turn and betrayals surface, he realises that this conflict is drawing the Company toward something far older than their present enemies, and far harder to escape.