John Dunbar, known as "the Basilisk," wants to turn his back on his brutal and wandering past and finally live in peace with his family. He settles with Lucretia and her daughter, Felicity, in the inhospitable Valley of Rocks, in the heart of Navajo territory. However, he will be pursued there by the most terrifying enemies he has ever met, enemies who do not seem to come from his own world. Meanwhile, Jon, the writer who created the adventures of the Basilisk, returns to his hometown. He intends to rehabilitate the old family house and settle there. Meanwhile, in the far west, Dunbar takes in the son of an old enemy and doubts Lucretia's love, difficulties for which his experience as a gunfighter has not prepared him, Jon runs into a rival who was about to ruin his life and who seems willing to try again. Thus, the lives of the character and his author come close to the point of almost merging.