Dillen, Koto and Tajni are free of their cruel masters and ready for their next adventure. Dillen is drawn to a respected mapmaker's appeal for an apprentice and hopes to be chosen. But many others want the job, and the test for them all is to undertake a journey to a mountain pass haunted by a fearsome creature said to be the size of a barn and able to move like a hunting snake. Dillen and his friends soon discover they have an even more perilous mission on their hands, one that could be the end for all of them...
