In the ancient Northumbrian town of Fulwich, there is an old man whom nobody knows. This man, Thorston by name, has lived a secret life so that he may stay alive--forever. Call him an alchemist but his posession of The Book Without Words contains the secret of immortality.  But to make this secret a reality, he must sacrifice his minion, Odo, a coal-black raven, and Sybil, his thirteen-year-old servant.  Just as Thorton is on the brink of imortality, Sybil decides she wants to live her own life, and Odo wants the gold he believes Thorton as made.  Who then will live, and who will die?  And who will get the gold?