To aid him on his quest, Sparhawk takes his childhood friend and fellow Pandion Knight Kalten, his squire Kurik, and Sephrenia.

The company is also joined by Talen, a wayward, young and gifted thief, and by a mysterious little girl, named Flute, who is quite a bit more than she seems.

The characters travel to the house of Count Ghasek whose sister is ill, as her soul was stolen by Azash, an Elder God of Styricum, whose spirit was confined in a clay idol.

The girl Flute dives into the chasm only to rise out again with the Bhelliom and depositing it into Sparhawk's hands, thereby revealing her true identity as Aphrael, Child-Goddess of Styricum.

Meanwhile, the evil God Azash and his servant, Otha, have been massing their forces along the eastern border of Eosia in preparation for an invasion of the west.

By a slightly odd mixture of subtlety and brute force, they gain access to the inner room - but not without the loss of Kurik, Sparhawk's squire and friend.

In September 2008, Del Ray books released all three novels of the Elenium series in a single, trade paperback volume.

It weighs in at 912 pages; the cover is orange in colour and features an image of Sparhawk kneeling down before Queen Ehlana who is sitting on her throne.