The world is about to be turned upside down. Not physically. The south won't become north, and the north won't become south. But there will be war. There will be a disruption of power in one empire, and the appropriation of an army in the other. Forbidden loves arise, and marriages fall. The Ancients, the Old Ones, though one is not so old at all, are stirring. Something singularly focuses Arkhaios on forcing the Living Gods to ascend. To themselves become Ancients. He needs them to help him restore the Bloodstar. He already has Leonardo, but the fledgling Ancient is insistent about returning to the world, insistent on breaking the rules, insistent on causing problems that vex Arkhaios' plans for a quick reunion and reconstruction of the Bloodstar. They are going to need it, but his future sense hasn't yet told him why.