Kirin and Stone have returned to the Heartland where she has been given sanctuary by the wyrMaster in the Red Valley. Her unprecedented return from exile has polarized the great Houses and enraged the evil HighMother. A divided Heartland quickly becomes embroiled in a fiery civil war with Stone leading the combined armies with their new ally--the winged telepathic bloodcats. Kirin becomes the deadly weapon she was resurrected from exile to be.