Things have not gone well for Mage Alexio Sopholus. His leaders do not trust him and the barbarians want him dead. After a brilliant military move by the barbarians, Alexio is forced to travel to a distant land for aid. There he discovers a more insidious plot against his home. Alexio and his companions must run for their lives to escape the evil king of this land. He arrives home to find his Mage Brotherhood shattered, his land in chaos, his enemies at the doorstep, and intrigue all around him. He must find new and more powerful means to defends all his human and non-human friends from the ravishes of his foes.