"Greg Keyes has always been both a skilled storyteller."--Terry Brooks, New York Times bestselling author Errol Greyson is awake and back in his own body, thanks to his friends Aster the witch and Veronica the half-dead girl. Unfortunately, due to the attempted suicide that led to his months-long coma and temporary reincarnation in Aster's wooden automaton in the first place, he's also in a mental hospital.
But when the last person Errol expects breaks him out and forces him back to the magical Kingdoms, he has no other option but to attempt to undo a deadly curse threatening reality itself, in hopes of returning the realm to equilibrium. It's dangerous business, especially in Errol's merely-human form, weakened from months in bed.
Fearing for their friend's life, Aster and Veronica follow, but are quickly separated. Aster is captured by an ancient evil--the source of the curse--while Veronica confronts a mysterious admirer, her own evolving nature, and the dark spirit that murdered her years earlier.
As vast armies collide and dragons take wing, the friends must find each other--and themselves--again.