The golden key glowed darkly, the inset gem flashing green fire. Inscribed runes spelled out a promise beyond belief. The Key To Paradise. A promise and a quest.
Giles Grimsmate, world-wandering survivor of the Trans wars, had won it fairly in a game of chance. The second key - along with a goodly haul of coin - had been stolen from a rich merchant by Keja Tchurak, master thief.
And when they set out for the invisible Gates of Paradise, Petia, half-cat, half-woman, tracked them with silent night-skills. Yet to enter Paradise, three keys more were needed:
The Flame Key, watched over by a cave-dwelling fire sorceress.
The Key of the Skeleton Lord, devil-guarded in a desert place of scorpions and snakes.
The Key of Ice and Steel, fast-locked in an underground smithy, protected by a frozen demon-prowled maze.
Five keys, scattered throughout a realm of supernatural happenings, strange creatures and otherworldly powers: