Edmund Waring's father and stepmother dismiss him as a pampered failure, unaware that he has spent years cultivating terrifying sorcery and nursing a private vow to punish those responsible for his mother's murder. At a royal contest meant to choose the princess's husband, ferocious fighters from three northern tribes invade the grounds and dare the court to stop them. Aristocrats answer one by one, only to be crushed. As the sovereign offers a prize for their defeat, Edmund abandons his harmless disguise and enters the fight at last.
