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By David Burrows

The world is periodically attacked by demons, but at the time of the tale attacks are rare and the people have become complacent. Garlands and wards protect doors and windows, reminding the people of past terrors. Their saviours in the past were the Eldric, but ashamed of their part in a terrible war some hundreds of years ago, the Eldric mysteriously disappeared from the world, leaving the remaining inhabitants vulnerable and ignorant to the future threat.

Vastra is one of the main characters. He is a moody and dark individual, harbouring a huge chip on his shoulder. He is trying to find powerful artefacts to aid his knowledge of sorcery. He cares little for others and will gladly sacrifice anyone who gets in his way. He meets Kaplyn and Lars whom he recruits to find a talisman. Kaplyn is a prince, seeking an adventure before court tedium destroys his sense for adventure utterly and Lars is a solid individual who befriends Kaplyn.

Vastra bids them find an Eldric talisman, a pendant. They journey into a tower filled with terrifying traps and ordeals. Unknown to Kaplyn he fulfils part of an ancient prophecy in travelling through the tower and sets in motion a chain of events that will lead the world into peril. He finds the pendant but unknown to him it shields him from magic and describes upon it in an ancient text the last journey of the Eldric.

Upon Kaplyn’s return Vastra demands the pendant but Kaplyn refuses. As Vastra cannot use sorcery against Kaplyn, he is forced to allow Kaplyn and Lars to accompany him on a quest to find the Eldric. Vastra has further ambitions though and Kaplyn very swiftly becomes a threat to these. Vastra must destroy Kaplyn and take the pendant but while Kaplyn has it he needs his help.

After many adventures they arrive at their destination, a cavern leading into the very heart of a mountain. They travel deep into a subterranean world. With the aid of the pendant Kaplyn sees and helps them to avoid many of the traps left by the Eldric. At the mountain’s heart is a giant cavern and a powerful artefact that unknown to the others will allow Vastra to open and maintain a gateway to the demon world. However, one-trap remains that even Kaplyn with the aid of the pendant cannot see. Vastra knows about the trap as only he can read the Eldric script on the pendant. He has killed to keep that secret and sold his soul into eternal damnation. He betrays Kaplyn at the very last. However, the very power that Vastra unleashes tears a hole in the fabric of space and time, allowing the spirit of a dead emperor, Shastlan, to cross the divide and become Kaplyn’s shaol, or guardian spirit.

By betraying Kaplyn, Vastra sets Kaplyn and his small company on a path that will either damn the world, or redeem it. Kaplyn will be driven to the very edge of despair. His world will be invaded and its cities destroyed. The people will look to Kaplyn to save them, but his dreams are plagued by fear as he witnesses Shastlan’s brutal conquest of his own world. A conquest made possible by a pact with dragons.

Kaplyn’s link to Shastlan will awaken the lust of dragons for his own world. The people, however, will see them in a different light, for without the Eldric the people are defenceless and dragons seem to be their only salvation. Kaplyn will be torn in two by fear of both the demons and dragons. Fate will guide him while the prophecy will seek to doom him.