A figure stepped out from beneath the trees-and the bard stopped in his tracks. The shape was man-like, a head and taller than Paedur, as thin as a sword – and completely enveloped from head to foot in a cloak of seared and withered leaves.

‘Bard come forth; face me.’

So begin the extraordinary adventures of Paedur the Bard. Confronted by the hideous figure of Mannam, Lord of the Dead, Sovereign of the Silent Wood, a perilous deal is struck. And in the course of its mysterious fulfilment, Paedur travels through awesome, magical realms of enchantment, terror and brutal powers, where the forces of darkness are always at his heels, threatening to engulf the enlightenment he so boldly upholds…