"I see you all crimson. . . . I see you all red." So warns the faery seer of Cruachan. It is a warning no one will heed, because only one thing stands between the army of Maeve the Intoxicator and its goal: a small young warrior named Setanta. Maeve, with all her cunning, sees no problem in dispatching him. But Setanta is no normal defender. His father is a god, who has given him a monstrous power and a magical spear. Alone against all odds and all comers, he fights as strange a war as has ever been undertaken--in the narrows of every stream the army must cross.

But beware, Setanta. The faery's warning is for you, too. Defeating the lustful Maeve may have unexpected, lethal consequences. . . .