Finn's father, Cumhal of Clan Baiscne, is assassinated on the night of his birth. Cumhal was lord captain of the famed Fianna of Erin, a much feared, mounted knighthood of woodsmen warriors who risked their lives to protect their island country's many miles of rugged coastline from marauders and invaders. The Captaincy of the Fianna is a blood right heritage passing from father to son and a position of enormous power in Erin, indeed, second only to the High King himself. Young Finn grows up continually hunted by his father's enemies, who seek his death to steal that heritage. He must find a way to overcome enormous trials, both mortal and immortal if ever he hopes to regain his father's ancestral seat. Will Finn unlock the mysterious secret of the famed Salmon of Knowledge and defeat the hundred-year-deceased spirit of a legendary sage of history who challenges him to a magical game of chess? Will he be able to solve the riddle of the Hag at the Well of Healing Waters? Most frightening of all, how will Finn overcome Aillean of the Flaming Breath, a creature spawned in the dark of the underworld that visits great evil upon the Land of Erin, claiming the lives of any who confront it? Only by victory over these and many other labors will young Finn grow to become the greatest of ancient Ireland's heroes, assuming at last the leadership to guide his countrymen in their noble quest for freedom. His tale is full of the whimsy of Faery, the guiding influences of the gods, and the deepest questions of honor, the code of manhood, courage and integrity.