They have liberated Anahar, but for Tess Birdsong and Archer Blackcloak the war has only begun. Anari slaves are rebelling in Bozandar, and the streets of that sparkling city are wet with blood. Tess and Archer must forge a peace between the warring races, for only together will their combined armies have the strength to move against the dark forces gathering to the west. As the scars of old wounds are ripped open, pitting brother against brother and the Ilduin sisterhood against itself, Tess and Archer march into a battle that will determine the world's fate. Guided by snow wolves, moving under the dark cloud of a bitter prophecy, they ready themselves to strike at the enemy's seat of power, a mountain fortress that has never been taken. But their greatest danger comes from within, for Archer carries a dark secret that may doom them all.