On the verge of further exposing the secretive Serpent Men, Jesuit minister Father Goncallo is confronted by Shakabet, priestess of Set. She slays Goncallo and sets his mission ablaze, replacing him with a doppelganger.
In Venice, Solomon Kane delivers the explorer Paolo Laurenti's parcel to the sage Abramo Bensaid and his daughter Diamanta. Abramo tells of his brother Paolo's doomed African quest for the Ring of Thoth-Amon. Diamanta breaks open the parcel, revealing a hidden map... just as Rolando Zarza and Nico Cassani arrive to steal it. Swords clash, a tense standoff follows, and an uneasy alliance is forged - all will sail together in pursuit of the ring.
From Venice, through the Strait of Gibraltar, to a raucous reprovisioning on the Gold Coast, the group arrives in Africa. Here, at the dark edge of the Kingdom of Ndongo, Kane and company are met by the false Goncallo and his novice Mbondu...
