They couldn't bring themselves to kill the evil witch. Now they must pay the price. In this second book, Matthew, Sachi and the ex-slaves have followed Taro's boatbuilder family into the snake-infested badlands with the dream of building a city where everyone is free. But winter approaches, and as the colonists gather their meager harvest, the witch they once defeated casts a spell to recapture the male slaves and leave their wives and children to die. The remaining colonist's only hope is Sachi and her undeveloped fallen-angel powers. Sachi can offer only one small chance, and it involves traveling to a post-apocalyptic earth with only five days to find a way to return to the land under the jeweled moon before the women and children start dying. And even if they succeed, the coming winter and the lack of food could make their efforts in vain. Ex-high-school teacher Matthew Sharpe has mostly come to believe this strange magical land is real. Besides, building a city from scratch doesn't allow time for considering the impossibilities of magic. But his doubt returns after he ends up in a nightmare version of the Earth he left behind. Especially when he and Taro, once again armed only with a pistol and a sword, face off against an army bent on their destruction. Unfortunately, this time their opponents use modern weapons.