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Althalus is a thief that has been very lucky for a long time and suddenly starts to run out of it. When he hears of Gosti, the richest man in the world, Althalus invites himself to spend the winter at Gosti's fort, entertains him with his fantastic stories, and robs his strongroom in spring before disappearing, only to discover that Gosti has no gold, only copper coins and a made-up reputation. Althalus then hides at his friend Nabjor's camp where he meets Ghend, a strange man who hires him to steal a book located at the House at the End of the World. After a journey northward, Althalus enters the house but is prevented to steal the book by a talking black cat. Althalus and the cat, that he names Emerald (or Emmy, or Em) reveals herself to be Dweia, the goddess sister to Deiwos, creator of the world, and to Daeva the destroyer. For twenty five centuries, Emmy teaches Althalus to read and use the book (of Deiwos) to learn magic. She also reveals that Ghend is an agent of Daeva, who wants to become the ruler of the world. They then leave the house together to first find the Knife that Althalus must use to gather a team of people that will fight Ghend's team. The Knife was in the possession of Eliar, a young Arum mercenary who was made prisoner by the people of Osthos after the defeat of his army. Andine, who has succeeded to her father killed by Eliar is now in possession of the Knife. Following Emmy's instruction, Althalus acquires an almost infinite amount of gold from a forgotten vault in a forgotten city. They then use the gold to buy Eliar and his comrades, who had become slaves, and then free all the men except Eliar, who agrees to join Althalus and the cat. Emmy tells Eliar they must go to Awes and show the Knife to all the priests they encounter, and the Knife will sing when they find the one they are looking for. This is how they meet Bheid, who joins the group. Emmy then reads the markings on the Knife, which tells her they must go back to Osthos and show the Knife to Andine. They kidnap her, and when she is shown the Knife, she agrees, reluctantly, to join them. The Knife then leads them to Hule where they recruit a young boy named Gher, before going to Kweron to save a young woman named Leitha from being burnt at the stake by a crooked priest; Leitha, who can read other people's thoughts, becomes the last member of the group. They all travel back to the House at the End of the World where Emmy reveals herself as Dweia and explains that they have to fight Ghend's own group, who it working for Daeva. They first recruit all the Arum mercenaries, lead by Albron, to fight Ghend's minion Gelta's archaic troops from the past, using the House's magical doors to move soldiers quickly from one place to the next. They then reform the various orders of priests by putting Bheid at the head of a new order, with the purpose to neutralize the revolution fomented by Argan and Koman among the peasants who are exploited by the nobles and the priests. Gher, who always comes up with the most ingenious ideas and ways to use the doors of the House, hatches a plan to steal the book of Daeva, in the possession of Ghend: Althalus and him will go back in the time of Gosti's fort, invite Ghend and Khnom to join them in their heist, and use that opportunity to replace Ghend's book with a copy. The plan succeeds, and Althalus relives his past adventures at Gosti's fort and Nabjor's camp with a few improvements. This time accompanied by Gher, he arrive at the House at the same time as first time. Dweia then joins the two books plus her own (the Knife); having left a special door open, Ghend enters the house and faces Althalus who gives him the choice to surrender. As Ghend refuses, he is lured with Daeva's book into a door to “nowhere and nowhen”. In the end, Dweia also performs the weddings of Eliar and Andine, and of Bheid and Leitha. Gher goes to live with Albron who has married Eliar's widowed mother. Finally, Dweia announces to Althalus that she is pregnant with his child.