Tempus: Avatar of the war-god Vashanka, he carves his anti-magical philosophy in the bodies of the detestable mages and demons of a world he never made but is cursed to inhabit. Niko: No godling he, just a warrior who has found the secret of his soul in the mysterious Western Isles—and so wields a pure and faithful power that makes him all too attractive to the gods and elementals of a world infested mainly with murderers and thieves. Together: Needing time to recover from the spells of a witch who nearly ate his soul. Niko will recover his self-mastery by reliving in utterly vivid detail all the most violent and transforming moments of his past—and that of his rightside leader, Tempus. Publisher's note: Parts of this work have been published in substantially similar form in several volumes of the Shared Universe Series, THIEVES' WORLD.