The tale of a forgotten crusade, erased from history because it fell into the shadow of the devil. Jerusalem is in the hands of Sultan Ab’dul Razim, and the Christians have raised an army to take it back, led by Grégoire of Arcos and the Duke of Taranto. Only Gauthier of Flanders and his sister-in-law Syria of Arcos are opposed to an attack they deem premature. But the stench of brimstone covers everything, and in a war fought in the name of God, it is the Qua’dj, a demon, who could decide the fate of the Holy Land...

"The tale of a forgotten crusade, erased from history because it fell into the shadow of the devil."--Back cover.

The Crusader army has been destroyed by the terrible Simoun Dja, the desert wind. Gauthier of Flanders has gone to look for the Jews of Samaria, possible allies to retake Jerusalem. But the Holy Land is rife with plots and counterplots. Christians and Muslims alike are torn by internal conflicts. And behind it all, pulling strings and offering temptations, one creature: the qa’dj—the demon that crept at the foot of the Cross.

Gauthier is in Acre, awaiting the arrival of Sybille, his sister – a woman with a scandalous reputation he hasn’t seen in many years. Meanwhile, the Assassins, working for the Djinn Ottar Benk, are still after him, convinced that he is in possession of the dangerous ‘treasure’ that Benk covets. To force the knight to show himself, they begin to foment trouble in the city, held by the Christians.

A crusade forgotten by history, tainted by the mark of the devil. The final volume of an epic adventure in the Holy Land.Gauthier and Osarias have reached Jebel Tarr, the city of the flagellants, where the breath of the Qa'dj now resides. They want to extinguish it forever, but can such a demonic force ever be destroyed? Meanwhile, the machinations of Guy of Lusignan, and his thirst for power and blood, have brought the Cross and the Crescent to the brink of renewed war, one that only Syria of Arcos, torn between her feelings for the Sultan and Gauthier, can still prevent...