The ultimate battleground has been chosen. Jonah and Archan the dragon will meet for the final confrontation at the place they had once thought impossible to reach: the very top of Stone's mighty wall. The ascent soon becomes a race, for whoever can reach the high ground first will surely win the battle. A thousand worlds must be crossed before the summit is reached and in this race there is no second prize. Jonah is carried aloft by the Bark. With him is the mysterious Tom Steppe, flung to Stone from Mount St Helens in 1980 and, more mysterious still, the diminutive Mister Ren, who claims to be immortal. Both turn out to be crucial to the success of the mission but in quite unexpected ways. Archan has the endless power of charm and also a secret ally Jonah has unwittingly delivered into her claws. At the uppermost tip of Stone, the final truths about the nature of Stone can be revealed. In the glare of the guardian sun the fate of Stone hangs by a thread. Only if Jonah Lightfoot can destroy the immortal Archan can the future begin again.