Book III in the Nuropean trilogy. Having escaped the monstrous horrors upon the egomaniac, Faustus' ancestral island home, the Lascen Coryn and his friends find refuge in a cargo ship called the Swan where they hide from the Emperor's seafaring patrol, for the Swan is also harbouring a fugitive, Fautus' mother, Felicia, and word is out that her and her son have become the Emperor's new enemy. Matters are made worse for Coryn for his body now plays host to a spore, a spore that will take his life to further its own. Even with these issues pressing upon him, he and his crew resolve to find Faustus, for he has taken two of his fellow Lascens hostage and with his mania increasing, fears for their safety are paramount. And, Faustus also has the embryo - the ball of crystallised consciousness, a consciousness that is vibrating - awakening and attracting the minds of all those aware of its powerful potential, including Valarius, the man whose egomania puts Faustus' in the shade.