Prequel to 'Dragonshadow'.
It was said to be impossible to slay a dragon. But Lord John Aversin had disproved this - earning himself the name of Dragonsbane once in his life, and thus becoming the subject of ballad and legend. Fired by the romance of his tale, young Gareth travelled far and wide across the Winterlands from the King's court to persuade the hero to rid the Deep of Ylferdum of the great Black Dragon, Morkeleb. Joining them on this quest was Jenny Waynest, half-taught mage and mother of Aversins's sons.
Morkeleb was the oldest and mightiest of the dragon race - the most fearsome opponent that the Dragonsbane had ever had to face. But Morkeleb was not the greatest danger that awaited John Aversin and his witch-woman. The once-ordered court had fallen into disarray, and the beautiful sorceress Zyerne held the King in her sway. Just as Morkeleb posed the hardest test of skill and courage for the Dragonsbane, so Jenny Waynest would find her powers pitted against an adversary as deadly as the Black Dragon, but infinitely more evil . . .
