In the Copper Forest, the witch Hørdis rules, arbitrarily deciding the fates of its inhabitants. Neither her own kin—nor the invaders, the Fyal-li, who come to collect tribute from them—know in advance which side she will choose. The witch of the Copper Forest inspires terror, and nobody knows that she herself is a captive of Swaldnir the giant, the true center of power in this mysterious land. Her strongest dream is to leave here, to return to people again—before the cold breath of the stones turns her herself into stone.
But only one person can help her: the conung of the Fyal-li, Torbrand. The feud between them is what forced Hørdis to leave people and become both mistress and prisoner of the Copper Forest. And one day—the hardest day in the lives of both of them—Torbrand and Hørdis, the father and mother of this war, will face each other in the depths of the Copper Forest to offer one another the last thing they have left: the golden circlet of the Dragon of Fate, in exchange for the Dragon of Battle’s sword…