A bold plan of William Tell's is to infiltrate the Citadel through his friend, the brilliant horseman Alexim - but this goes dangerously awry when Leon is caught talking to Alexim in the marketplace, and arrested.
Rather than execute Leon immediately, as Xax would prefer, Kreel holds Leon prisoner - as bait, convinced that William will mount a rescue attempt.
Will witnesses Leon's arrest and seizes a Xaxian Warrior's deathwand which he takes back to the Shelter with him. Will believes he can tune the deathwand to his thoughts, but in fact the reverse is true: the deathwands work by tuning the bearer into the Dark Crystal, and therefore making them vulnerable to Kreel's evil influence.
Will has a plan of his own and lures Xax from the Citadel by proposing a duel with deathwands in the forest. With Xax out of the way and with the help of Alexim, Will instead slips into the Citadel to rescue Leon...
But Kreel is expecting him, and the closer Will gets to Shaytana's Eye the more he is pull