Plot
Sonja, a young, red-haired woman, is gang-raped and left for dead by soldiers of Queen Gedren, who murdered Sonja's parents and her brother after Sonja had rejected the queen's sexual advances and scarred Gedren's face. Answering Sonja's cry for revenge, a female spirit appears and gives her heightened sword-fighting skills on the condition that she never lie with a man unless he defeats her in fair combat. She trains under the warriors of a sword-master called "The Grand Master" and mistrusts nearly all other men.
At a nearby temple, Varna, Sonja's sister, is in an order of priestesses preparing to banish the Talisman, a mystical light-powered relic that created the world and all living things. The Talisman can be used and touched only by women – men vanish if they touch it – and has become too powerful to control. However, Gedren's army and her aide-de-camp Ikol intervene, slaughtering most of the priestesses and shield-maidens before they can imprison the Talisman in permanent darkness.
Varna watches Gedren steal the Talisman and throw the surviving priestesses in the vault that contained it, before escaping, but is mortally wounded. She is discovered by Kalidor, the Lord of Hyrkania, who looks for Sonja and brings her to Varna. Before dying, Varna tells Sonja to find the Talisman and send it into darkness before it ravages the world with storms and earthquakes. Kalidor offers to accompany Sonja, who rejects the offer.
After witnessing the Talisman in use, Sonja arrives in the now-ruined kingdom of Hablock. She meets the young Prince Tarn and his servant/bodyguard Falkon. Gedren used the Talisman to devastate Hablock when Tarn refused to surrender. Tarn wants to crush Gedren and invites Sonja to be his cook. She declines before being told that Gedren is based in Berkubane, the land of Perpetual Night.
Arriving at the mountain gate, Sonja fights Lord Brytag after he refuses her passage for not paying him a "tender tribute". When she kills him and takes his key, his troops surround her; Kalidor, who has secretly followed Sonja, attacks their rear, allowing her to escape. Sonja comes across Tarn again, being tortured by bandits. She frees Tarn and kills the bandits with Falkon. They decide to travel together towards Berkubane, and Tarn takes Sonja's advice and learns good manners over sword practice.
Gedren's wizard uses a magic screen to show the approaching party; Gedren recognizes Sonja and orders that she be brought to the fortress unharmed. Using the Talisman to conjure a storm, she forces Sonja's group to take shelter in a watery cavern in Ictyan where Gedren's dragon-like “Killing Machine" is unleashed. Kalidor appears and helps Sonja blind the mechanical beast so they can escape.
Sonja accepts Kalidor's company after learning that he is descended from the lords who entrusted the Talisman to the temple. He flirts with her, so she warns him that "no man can have me" unless he defeats her. Kalidor challenges her and they sword-fight to a draw, despite Tarn's attempts to hobble Kalidor. The party arrives at Castle Berkubane and, to protect Tarn, they convince him to stay behind and guard the front entrance.
Ikol, realizing Gedren is insane when she refuses his pleas to stop using the unstable relic, plans to escape with bags of Hablock's gold. Sonja confronts Gedren in her council chamber and kills her wizard, while Kalidor and Falkon deal with her guards in the castle's dining hall. Ikol is stopped by Tarn at the entrance and is crushed to death by the door.
Overpowered by Sonja, Gedren flees to the Chamber of Lights where the Talisman is stored. Now powerful beyond control, the Talisman causes the floor to split open and reveal a chasm of molten lava. Dueling Gedren, Sonja runs her through with her sword, sending the queen plunging into the lava below. Sonja throws the Talisman in after her, destroying it and starting a chain reaction that tears Castle Berkubane apart.
The heroes escape as the rising volcano consumes the castle. Sonja and Kalidor kiss after an inconclusive "sword fight", while Tarn and Falkon ride back to Hablock to rebuild it.
