A dark queen is gathering armies in remote lands and desperate men are sent on a suicidal mission to confront this evil.

Their hanging is faked, though, along with several other condemned men, and the group is taken to a man named Robert de Loungville, where they are informed that their sentence has not been commuted, only delayed, and that they can only hope to gain freedom in exchange for service to the crown on an extremely dangerous mission.

They sail across the Endless Sea aboard the Trenchard's Revenge and the Freeport Ranger, to the continent of Novindus, where they must pose as a mercenary group known as "Calis' Crimson Eagles" and attempt to join the army of the Emerald Queen.

They discover the Emerald Queen's plans to become a host for a Valheru spirit trapped within several ancient artifacts, then lead her army across the sea to invade the Kingdom of the Isles.

When their ruse is discovered, the Crimson Eagles are pursued by the 9-foot-tall Saaur cavalry, only to flee into the secret lair of the Pantathian priests.

The surviving members of the group are picked up by Prince Nicholas aboard the Freeport Ranger, and return to Krondor as free men.