Far beyond the borders of Wendar and Varre, Alain, Liath, Sanglant, and King Henry must make their separate journeys, following twisting roads which will nevertheless lead them all to one fated moment in time... Alain is caught in a desperate struggle for survival even as he finds himself unwittingly drawn into the heart of an ancient conflict between humankind and the Cursed Ones... Liath faces her most difficult trial in a land of exile. Only there can she hope to discover her true parentage and the nature and extent of her unique powers... The bastard prince Sanglant is determined to seek out his father, King Henry, and bring warning of the conspiracy of sorcerers who've sworn to put an end to the Aoi, the Lost Ones - no matter how much destruction may be unleashed by their workings of magic... But King Henry's attention is on the throne of Aosta and the imperial crown, unclaimed for two generations. Even as a Quman army ravages the Wendish countryside, Henry marches south, ignoring the pleas of his beleaguered subjects... And as the tides of war and magic wreak havoc across the lands, the great Cataclysm, long foretold in the stars, draws inexorably closer...