The senior Ohmsfords recognize the deception and lies that the Druids have been telling them, so Bek attempts to locate Pen by using the magical scrye waters in the depths of Paranor.

Pen and his friends find allies among the Troll people, led by Kermadec and his semi-estranged brother Atalan, who aid them in locating the mystical Tanequil tree on a ravine-surrounded island.

From the Tanequil, Pen receives the enchanted wooden "darkwand," a talisman that can aid him in saving his aunt.

This creature, who has taken the form of a Druid advisor to the Federation leader, is intent on using the weapon to destroy the Ellcrys tree in Arborlon, which would allow the Demon hordes from the Forbidding to flood into the Four Lands.

When Grianne is pitted in a contest against a horde of demonic Furies, she is forced to take a Demon-like form in a desperate attempt to survive.