Captain Lenard Denarion and his combat lhound Xand both belong to the Imperial Lhound Regiment of Etabria. They share not just a strong emotional bond, but also a telepathic link. They are sent by King Denar from the capital of Etabria, Belfane, to deliver a report about disturbing developments and disquieting rumours to his mother, Queen Eruda, in Gordofane. En route they meet up with Anmar Lanek and her brother Dane, sent on a similar mission by their uncle, the Governor of the Province of Lannetek. They decide to travel together. During their journey they fall foul of a particularly strong and malevolent Master Sender, Daruk Silt. On reaching Gordofane and Queen Eruda, it becomes clear, particularly from reports of attacks in the Bamboo Forests, (during one of which a dead lhound wearing a strange collar is left behind) and on the crystal mine, Baggnor One, that the situation is approaching crisis point. An expedition, led by Queen Eruda herself and incorporating several lhounds and their Handlers, as well as the traitorous Major Harod Ramm, is launched to investigate. Lion-hounds were created during a questionable breeding experiment by the previous Ruling House of Etabria, in which the large, long-haired and fleet-footed Etabrian hunting hounds were crossed with Dale lions. When it was decided after some years that the resultant animals were too dangerous, and were to be exterminated, most escaped into the North Baggnor Mountains where they settled and thrived. During the First Irasco Wars, some fifty years before the point of this story, extreme circumstances brought about cooperation between the lhounds and the Minds, as the humans who possess a telepathic link with the animals refer to themselves. Ords (ordinary, non-telepathic people) are generally terrified of the lhounds.