For young Esk, the ogre-nymph-human, what had begun as an escape from the clutches of a seductive demoness -- and a pilgrimage to the Good Magician Humfrey -- was now an errand of mercy. A running river paradise and its harmless inhabitants were perishing in the wrathful wake of a greedy demon horde. And it was up to Esk and his newfound companions -- a beautiful winged centaur and a brave burrower named Volney -- to search Xanth's treacherous reaches, gathering together a mind-boggling company of creatures to defend the precious Vale of the Vole.