At once, he is plunged into a quest for the six magical Signs that will one day aid the Old Ones in the final battle between the Dark and the Light. On the Midwinter Day that is his eleventh birthday, Will Stanton discovers a special gift: he is the last of the Old Ones, immortals dedicated to keeping the world from domination by the forces of evil, the Dark. The third verse tells what the other adventures in the later books are about-namely, The Greenwitch, the Sleepers, and the final triumph of the light.Inverarity Before there was Harry Potter, boy wizard, there was Will Stanton, last of the Old Ones. The second verse also tells the order of the finding. 'Five will return, and one go alone' could be referencing the end of the series, where all but Merriman forget everything and return to normal lives. The second possibility is that 'three from the circle' could be referencing Merriman Lyon, Will Stanton and Bran Davies 'three from the track' could be referencing the Drew children. The first possibility lists the signs and that three are given by the circle (Iron, Wood, Water), while the other three must be found on a journey. There are two possibilities of the meaning of the first verse.

The prophetic poem gives a clue to how each sign is found by the Seeker, Will Stanton.

Stone - Retrieved from the church wall in Huntercombe, found by the light it gave off.

Water - Retrieved from the King's hand in the shipwreck in the River Thames.

Fire - Made from the Candle Ring, completed by candles from the Dark, in the Great Hall.

Iron - Held by Frank Dawson and given to Will on his eleventh birthday.

Bronze - Carried by The Walker for six centuries.

Wood - Kept by Miss Greythorne in the Manor and renewed every hundred years because it is made out of rowan wood.

The six signs are each made of a different material and represent a different element. the signs grow cold in the presence of the Dark. The circle is made from the six signs, each of which is a circle quartered (divided evenly in four sections) by a cross. During the final battle, the chain melts away and the signs are used to keep the Dark at bay, protecting Bran in his effort to obtain the mistletoe. While in the Lost Land, it is revealed to Will and Bran that four out of the six signs were created in the Lost Lands, namely the signs of iron, bronze, water, and fire. The location can only be reached through a painting in the Stanton household, and recovered by visiting the excavations in the present day. In Silver on the Tree, the Circle is retrieved by Will Stanton from inside the wall of a Roman amphitheater. At the joining, the entire circle of Old Ones are present. In The Dark is Rising, the Circle is joined at the end of the novel. It is the most powerful but the most vulnerable of the Things of Power. The Circle of Signs is one of the Things of Power.

The dark is rising order