Vashnar is the Commander of Arvenstaat's Wardens. Ambitious, ruthless, and weary of the antiquated and irrelevant proceedings of the government, the Moot, he plans to seize power and re-establish the ancient rule of the Dictators.
But, in a terrifying confrontation, his messenger, Thyrn, a young, inexperienced Caddoran, sensitive to the point almost of telepathy, reads the intentions beneath his words and flees in panic. Accompanied by his uncle, three Wardens - reluctant allies - and Endryk, a shoreman, Thyrn is driven into the Karpas Mountain by Vashnar's relentless pursuit.
There, however, a darker power begins to reveal itself: a power which has waited for time beyond knowing for such as Vashnar; a power that will drive his ambitions far beyond the boundaries of Arvenstaat; a power which, apart from Vashnar himself, only Thyrn can sense and oppose . . .
