Ed Lewis has been dragged to Medieval Faires for as long as he can remember. Now 17, he's sick of the whole scene: helping his uncle make bows, minding the store, and - most of all - translating his mute mother's sign language as she reads runes for a stream of gaga faire-goers. Only one thing makes him come this time, a last chance to impress a certain young woman by winning the archery tournament. It feels like a matter of life and death. All that changes when Ed discovers an ancient, rune-marked arrowhead tucked in his bedroll. He has no idea who put it there and doesn't ask. Angered by his uncle's endless chores, embarrassed by losing the tournament, he buries himself in making an arrow for his find. What he creates is beyond his ken, for the arrowhead is a gate-key to another world, his mother's world, locked in battle between her people and its old masters, a war chief and druid witch of the Britons. It's the world where his father was lost, and mad harpers pluck illusions from their tunes. A world where there be monsters, for Beowulf's saga is fresh and real. A world of magic and war, where skill, wit, friendship, and a healthy dose of fear solve riddles that reveal the true nature of life and death.