The respite their marriage provided was short-lived. It turns out the incantation Kahlan used to save Richard's life from the plague was laced with the key to unleash the Chimes. The Chimes are force from the underworld that lure innocents to death for their amusement and suck magic from the world of the living. If left unattended, they will eventually drain the last spark of magic from the world, and potentially life with it. It is up to the one they were promised, Richard, to stop them, but he is faced with an obstacle named Dalton Campbell, a politician from Anderith. Campbell stirs the people of Anderith in opposition of Richard and straight into the open arms of the barbarian horde bearing down on them from the Old World.