Gbahn and Archipelago - a seafaring world locked in conflicts between magic and war, faith and power, tradition and change, sea and desert. The people of Gbahn face attack from the ships of the Archipelago. But the greatest danger may be from their own clerics and magic workers. Plagued by drought, dissent, and war, they have unknowingly released a force more powerful than they imagined. Their only hope might be the invaders and refugees who have encroached on their land, and a secret that has been hidden deep in the desert for centuries. Orwyn may be the only one who can fight these dangerous powers, but the traumas he has endured have trapped him in a struggle of his own, and his only help in a hostile foreign land is a wounded and reluctant Loriene. Far away in the islands, Demmina also learns what happens when magic is violently misused, but she is unprepared for how it changes her. As Tomas sails into battle, more tormented by his unstable mind than ever, he brings his long-betrothed bride, Bronwin. The voyage is long, taking Tomas and Bronwin into virtually uncharted regions, and sweeping Bronwin into a world of blackmail, sickness, and mutiny. But when they finally land in Gbahn, the forces they encounter there might be unconquerable.