With the Azgaril Northern Liberation Army marching northward in unstoppable conquest, Lieutenant Dathan Herulus faces increasingly complex moral dilemmas. His belief system meets its first challenge in Brenna Velez, a pious Lithian maiden who flees the conquered city of Shirak after the Azgaril army destroys her home. Garrick Ravenwood, a troubled, young Tamarian soldier, encounters the refugee girl one cold and fateful, autumn night. She joins the Tamarians in opposing the Azgaril invasion, but can the vastly outnumbered and outgunned Tamarians halt the advancing army?