One of the border fortresses of the Forest Kingdom—located near the places where the Dark Forest stretched ten years ago—stopped sending messages to the capital. To find out what happened, one of the field reconnaissance groups is sent there. But Duncan MacNeill and his men face a complication: the fortress must hold a large amount of gold, and that very gold is being hunted by the famous criminal Jonathan Hammer and his assistants. Soon it becomes clear, however, that beneath the fortress’s dungeons lives a monster that must under no circumstances be released—and the chance to win can be won only by joining forces…