The desolate world of Mikuhr is home to a proud people now on the verge of distinction. Conflict explodes when apprentice priest Kiel Caldwell arrives to investigate rumors of new spiritual revelation, but he is kidnapped by a demon-possessed telepath who thinks he might be a predicted messiah. And when Kiel's loose-cannon military brother Kinnor arrives to investigate, a local leader with revenge on her mind threatens to bring ruin on them all. It's up to returning Mikuhran diplomat Wind Haworth to head off a confl ict that could have spiritual, political, and military repercussions-but no one has foreseen the consequences of introducing the Mikuhran Wind Haworth to the Federate military Sentinel Kinnor Caldwell.