Description: The gripping continuation of Lawhead's rousing saga of the Crusades. Murdo Ranulfsson has returned from the Great Crusade to Scotland where he heads a strong and pious clan. His son Duncan is about to retread his father's footsteps. Troubled by a strange death-bed tale told by his uncle Torf-Einar, Duncan is then devastated by the death of his young wife.
He decides to go to Jerusalem as part of the Holy Crusade. Before Duncan sets off, Murdo tells him and his brother that the Holy Relic of the Iron Lance is hidden in their home. Amazed at what he has heard, Duncan travels to France with his friend the monk Padraig.
Throughout the journey Duncan dwells on his uncle's last words concerning the Holy Cross of the Crucifixion - which he claimed had been rediscovered and was being brandished on the battlegrounds of the Holy Land by the Knights Templar. But before he reaches Jerusalem, Duncan is caught by barbarians and transported to Cairo where he is incarcerated while the Caliph ponders his fate.