Vashnar is the Commander of Arvenstaat's Wardens. Ambitious, ruthless, and weary of the antiquated and irrelevant proceedings of its 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 Mountains 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. But by any measure, Thyrn is no warrior, and his companions are too few to stand against Vashnar's vicious Tervaidin...