The world is at war. In the north, the once proud country of Liiria, already devastated by war, lies easy prey for the huge mercenary army of Jazana Carr, Diamond Queen of Norvor.
In the south, the desert kingdom of Jador, flooded with refugees from the north seeking the healing magic of the mountain fortress of Grimhold, faces a brutal attack from powerful desert tribes determined to wash the taint of the north from the Desert of Tears.
Even the once-peaceful fortress of Grimhold is not spared, for in defense of Jador, Minikin, the diminutive elfin mistress of this magical stronghold, has ravaged the attacking desert tribes with fire, and now must live with the consequences of her terrible actions.
But the squabbles of men, however bloody, pale beside the true danger facing the world. For Kahldris, the Akari demon who created the Devil's Armor and whose evil spirit has inhabited its horned black carapace for millennia, has finally claimed a victim. From its lair in the deepest cellars of Grimhold, it has lured and seduced a good but troubled man. Aging, one-armed, haunted by his betrayal of Liiria in the arms of his ex-lover Jazana Carr, and in love with a woman who does not return his feelings, Baron Thorin Glass is no longer the confident warrior he once was. Sheathed in the Devil's Armor he is superhuman - strong, young, invincible. So long as he wears the vambrace and gauntlet of the armor's left arm, he is once again made whole. And Kahldris has been very careful - not immediately revealing his full nature, he has caused Baron Glass to believe he can control the demon of the armor. But the baron is tragically mistaken. For the armor craves blood, and Thorin is helpless to deny it.