Dark tides flow as Arek and his party try desperately to flee Arcadia before the realm collapses, swallowed whole by the life-stealing touch of the nephilim. Their only way out is the Gate of the East Winds, ruled by the Celestial Zafir. Once brothers-in-arms with both Arek and Duncan's aeris forms, now Zafir rules his kingdom with an iron fist. Arcadia dies beneath them, a place even the mighty Celestial seeks to escape, but what price must Arek pay for passage? Always hunting them is Alion Deft, Queensmark of Lilyth and magehunter turned demon. But Alion had a life before she turned to the darker side of truth, a life we learn about as we watch the huntress pace her quarry with unrelenting focus. And in all of this lies the Cypher, an ancient key that will unlock a new Runestaff and bring about either the salvation or the destruction of Arek's world.