In the Bloodswamp, a northern battlefield, the healer Aslaug discovers a baby lying next to a dying warrior. Having recently lost her two infant sons, she decides to keep it for her own, defying the judgment against his vanquished people. The blacksmith Eckehart helps her keep the secret. They name the boy Kitt and this is his story.

Kitt grows up on a remote island in the grey northern sea. He works hard to become a master blacksmith, reads many books and daydreams about faraway lands and glittering cities. And he never doubts that he knows everything about his parents - unaware of the dark secret that shrouds his birth, and what role the hero-king Grimwolf has played in all this.

Warriors from many lands come to Isenkliff to acquire Eckehart’s famous Aurora Steel, and they show Kitt how to become a warrior too. Aslaug disapproves of combat and war and teaches him to heal wounds and harness his growing strength, not to do harm. However, she does not share her knowledge of magic with him.

Kitt faces irate sea rovers, ice-giants and the Snow Queen, a thorn monster and a moonlight sword wielded by a silver woman. He crosses the sea in an open boat to sail to the Dark Wood Murkowydir, where lost cities sleep and creatures survive that are long extinct elsewhere. There, the Woodstalkers lurk, who are feared for their stealth and cruelty. The Knights of the Red Lily teach him their code of honor to aid, protect and serve.