Dan Barron was a rational and efficient member of the Terran space-force - until nightmare visions drove him from the safety of the trade city into the unmapped heart of the Darkovan mountain ranges. Into an ancient battle that would shape the destiny of more than one world.

One of the earliest Darkover novels to reveal the awesome and terrifying powers of the infamous Sharra Matrix - in a story of violence and vengeance as the Storn family is held hostage in the frigid High Hellers.