Sorceress

Nechtan has ruled the House of Amaranth for eons, caring for the precious Sorcery Chambers and tending the looms on which the tenuous spells are woven. He has been the guardian of the power wielded by the infamous line of the Wolfking, but now his time has come and he must cast off his mortal coil and venture into another life. Sadly there is no one yet strong enough to take it up on his behalf. Only young Theo – a mere slip of a girl – has the least inclination for real magic and she has been overlooked. But not by the Gristlen, evil's first emissary. And a monster that every decent man-jack had thought banished for centuries, for beneath the outer layers of tanned hide lurks a creature more horrible than the Lord of Chaos himself, or so rumour has it.

Rumour herself, a cousin of Theo's, is determined to seek out the kidnapped Theo and put paid to these ridiculous notions of hostage-taking and usurping. She travels to the Dark Ireland with one of the new-fangled monks for company – a strange companion, but a surprisingly resourceful one...