While searching for the city of Gathia, Red Sonja saves a lone rider from a group of savage men. Sonja discovers the man she saved is a messenger from Gathia, delivering a message of surrender and peace to the Zedda tribes. The Zedda tribes wanted nothing to do with the lord and savior of Gathia.
After drinking from water tainted with dark magic, the messenger starts to turn into a tenticled monster that Red Sonja is forced to slay. She vows to deliver his message to Gathia. Red Sonja delivers the final message and the news that dark magic is returning to the area, only to fall victim to an old Gathian tradition; death to the messenger who brings bad news!