Five years ago Geir Simonson won control of the Jurnburg, the great citadel built atop a stone pinnacle in another land. Now the wheel of fortune has turned and fate is against him—betrayed from within, the Jurnburg has fallen to the enemy. Geir and his loyal followers flee for their lives.
Their dismay at the loss of the Jurnburg is made even more bitter when they discover that the caravan of women and children, which they sent to safety several weeks before, was attacked by the brutal Eishaus men and the survivors have been taken captive. Bent on rescue of the missing women and children, Geir and his cohorts set out on a grim trek through the wilderness.
Meanwhile, Geir's enigmatic and powerful relative Irda, member of an elder race, has received word of the disaster at her home on the American west coast. Irda, who has taught Geir's sister Jory the secrets of shape control, decides to return to the other land and offer Geir what help she can. Together with Jory, and her shape-changing messenger, they head for the stone bridge which marks the boundary between this world and the other.
When they reach the boundary, Jory steps through a time portal and finds herself in the past, at the building of the Jurnburg. She realizes that she must be there to learn something which will help her brother. What is that vital piece of information? Even Irda, who meets here there, does not know. And if Jory does discover anything of value, how can she return to her own time with the information?
As this drama unfolds, Geir's wife, Jasith, organizes the escape of the missing women and children and leads them toward safety—but the enemy is close and time is running out.
