Matthias - a young man from the tribe of the bear, is sent on a crusade to atone for his guilt. Only Samuel of the tribe of the wolf can help him by forging the spear that will kill the beast. This beast, named the Shadow, summoned by sorcery, has butchered the village of Scarborough.

Matthias the Penitent must conquer the Shadow and even himself if he is to survive the crusade.

At the end of her bestselling Coldfire trilogy, C.S. Friedman challenged readers to imagine what a world would be like if sorcery required the ultimate sacrifice—that of life itself.

Now, in Feast of Souls, she introduces us to a terrifying world in which the cost of magic is just that... in which the fuel for sorcery is the very fire of the human spirit, and those who hunger for magical power must pay for it with their lives.

In this epic tale of nightmarish shadows and desperate hope, the greatest threat of all may not be that of ancient enemies returned, or ancient wars resumed, but of the darkness that lies within the hearts of men.

Enter a powerful realm of legend, dark sorcery, and conquest, where the mighty Drenai warrior Druss faces his most deadly opponent...

Druss the Legend, the dark axman known as the Deathwalker, must join the warrior Talisman on a mission of blood and glory. Only the stolen Eyes of Alchazzar—mystic jewels of power—will save Druss's dying friend, then unite the Nadir tribes against the evil of the Gothir.

Druss agrees to help look for the twin gems—hidden for centuries in the shrine of Oshikai, the Demon-bane, the Nadir's greatest hero.

It has been prophesied that with the recovery of the stones, there will come the Uniter, a magnificent fighter who will free the Nadir from brutal oppression. But Garen-Tsen, the sadistic power behind the Gothir throne, also seeks the gems. To control them, he will send five thousand men against a handful of savages, Talisman, and the one Drenai warrior.