Phoenix in Obsidian

Plot summary

After ending a war and finding peace, Erekosë is once again plagued by dreams of endless conflict. He awakens in the body of Urlik Skarsol, steering a chariot drawn by polar bears across a frozen plain. Frog-like humanoids guide him to Rowernarc, where he meets the corrupt Bishop Belphig and the austere Lord Shanosfane, called the Lord Temporal. Belphig proposes a hunt for the dangerous sea-stag. On the journey, Urlik dreams of the Black Sword; a bell rings, a Screaming Chalice materializes, and a voice commands him to claim the sword, but he refuses. The hunt ends disastrously with many dead. Though Urlik kills the stag, he is abandoned. He is saved by Bladrak Morningspear’s party from the Scarlet Fjord. Following the Lady of the Chalice’s advice, they have been ringing the bell that pulled him from his life as Erekosë. They carry the Cold Sword, which Urlik instinctively fears and has sworn against using.

During a raid to free prisoners from the Silver Warriors, Urlik discovers Belphig has been trading slaves with them. The Lady of the Chalice instructs Urlik to take the Cold Sword and rescue Shanosfane. Shanosfane reveals that Belphig controls the Silver Warriors by holding their Silver Queen captive, then is slain by the Cold Sword. Belphig besieges the Scarlet Fjord. The Lady tells them the Silver Queen is imprisoned in Moon, a city that is also the actual moon, which crashed to earth long ago. Using an air chariot, Urlik frees the Queen and learns she is the Lady of the Chalice, who had been advising them from afar. Seeing their queen free, the Silver Warriors turn on Belphig. After the battle, she recounts a legend that the chalice holds the sun’s blood. Urlik finally grasps his dreams. They walk onto the ice; as she summons the Screaming Chalice, he kills her. The Black Sword pours its blood into the Chalice, which then rises to restore the sun, and the Sword vanishes.