When Avram became King of Detina, he intended to liberate the blonde serfs from their ties to the land. The northern provinces, who would not accept his lordship, seceded from Detina, choosing Avram's cousin, Grand Duke Geoffrey, as their king in his place.

Avram refused to let Geoffrey rule the north and sent armies clad in grey against them. Geoffrey raised his own army, and arrayed his men in blue.

Avram held the larger part of the kingdom, and the wealthier part, too. But Geoffrey's men were bolder soldiers. And the north, taken all in all, had better wizards than the southrons did. The war raged for almost three years, until Avram's General Guildenstern moved against the northern army under Count Thraxton the Braggart and his commander of unicorn-riders, Ned of the Forest, which held the town of Rising Rock, close by Sentry Peak. Both sides knew this was a crucial battle in the desperate war, but neither guessed just how crucial it would be...