Forced onto the streets of Turnitia after the army destroys his home and murders his parents, Lucius Kane becomes an excellent thief, gaining notoriety in his new profession. Soon drawn into a war between rival thieves guilds, Kane fights for friends and profit but finds himself pulled into the darker and more mysterious world of the Shadowmage, a calling for which it seems he is ideally suited. Mercenary practitioners who combine stealth with magic, Shadowmages make the best scouts, infiltrators, spies. . . and assassins. Kane discovers the Thieves War spiralling out of control as tit-for-tat killings increase in frequency and savagery, while he has to balance his allegiance to the guild with the raw power he gains from becoming a fully fledged Shadowmage.

Thief and Shadowmage, Lucius Kane, has found that his influence and power in the underworld of Turnitia has grown. The thieves' guild is prosperous, and his magical skills have proved a great asset to his peers. His prospects seem boundless, until the Empire of Vos descends upon the City. Soldiers fill the streets and a new cleric has taken command of the souls of Turnitia's citizens. This strange priest has promised to eradicate the thieves' guild, as well as outlaw unlicensed magic - and the pagan Shadowmages are at the top of his list. Lucius will come to realise that, once again, a war in the streets of his city must be fought.