Zachareth, Baron of Carthridge, is a driven, ruthless and obsessive man - a man who could be a hero, but he wants so much more. Having watched his father fall under the sway of a sorceress, Zachareth grows up craving knowledge and power. When his tutor at Greyhaven introduces him to forbidden magics, Zachareth discovers there is more to power than meets the eye. As he returns home to a barony on the verge of rebellion and beset by necromantic foes, Zachareth must choose his true path - the path of virtue and heroism, or that of darkness and villany; the line between the two is finer than most imagine.