At the dawn of the world, the Old Ones called it Harashil. A thousand years before, Oballef called it the Lady in Gil. Tigrallef calls it the Pain - when he's being polite. For more than twenty years he has carried it inside him, a private demon dutifully bent on bringing down the world and everything in it; and while the Pain protects Tig against sickness, danger and the ravages of time, it wages a constant war of attrition against his mind and soul. With Calla, his daughter Katlefiya and son Vero, and devoted friends Chasco and Shree, Tig has roamed the known and unknown oceans, following a trail which he hopes will lead to the ultimate defeat of the power that lives within him, the power that is coming ever closer to destroying everything he holds dear.