The army of the Sons of the Earth, exhausted and diminished, manages to escape into the desert, in front of a Duke of Omel who has no other wish but to take back his Iron Crown on the head of King Riben of Arkanor. Yet it is in the heart of this hostile land that chance seems to be able to turn. The soldiers arrive to Shalin, who is the disappointed hope of the renegades Drekkars and the escaped Riddraks slaves of Farkas.