The war between Merlin and the pagan Mab, Queen of Magic, hurtles toward the final conflict.At last, a good King sits on England's throne. But Arthur leaves Camelot on a quest of shadows, while his nemesis, Mab's disciple Mordred, grows into a monster cruel enough to laugh at his own mother's murder.As Mab's growing evil drives away even her loyal servant, the gnome Frick, Merlin, too, is alone -- his true love, Nimue, lost to him forever. Arthur is betrayed, facing Mordred at the heart of an apocalyptic civil war.For when Arthur battles Mordred, when Merlin battles Mab, all hope will turn to ashes, all dreams will pass into legend.And not even Magic can survive.