The Master of Masters has sent his foster sons to war, but not even he knows the course of fate—neither theirs, nor his own. When he finds himself withering in the ring’s absence, Regin seeks help from the one who cursed the Nibelung Hoard … but help is not what awaits him in the realm of the dwarf king. Help awaits no one in this bold and transportive second installment of Sigurd’s legend—certainly none awaits Sigurd himself. Fate has more in store for him than his foster brother’s war; he has his own battles to fight. So while Gunnar’s path tangles with witchcraft and wanting, Sigurd’s takes him into the brutal workings of men—and the beautiful mysteries that slip between the cracks of the mortal world. Here the Norns speak … in their way. Here the valkyries choose the dead … or the living. Here the world-tree binds them all together—mortals, gods, and monsters.