Sixteen years have passed since the events of Talisker. Duncan Talisker watches his children, Tristin and Regan, ride off to Soulis Mor, where Tristin is to be made Thane. But Regan, with the darkness of the dead god Corvus in her soul, is open to evil. She finds this in the arrival of Jahl - who is actually the son of Talisker and Phyrr, sister to Corvus. Despite Tristin's warnings, she takes up with the newcomer, and her actions lead to war...

Meanwhile, in Edinburgh, a darkness is spreading over from the world of Sutra, and Jahl's influence rises through his cat's-paw Knox, leader of a religious community.

As Regan decides whether or not to kill her brother, and Knox prepares the way for Jahl to manifest in our world, Talisker must take a hand in mighty events again...Dark Thane features some of the same characters as Talisker, but also the children who were born in the first book.