The war between the alien hydrogues and the faeros ravages the Ildiran Empire, dividing humanity. New Mage-Imperator Jora'h must quash the rebellion launched by his mad brother before the hydrogues destroy what is left of the empire. He sends his beloved half-human daughter on a desperate mission to make peace with the hydrogues.

Jess Tamblyn seeds worlds with the watery wentals, the mortal enemies of the hydrogues. On the ravaged planet of Theroc, home to a telepathic worldforest, a dead man is resurrected for mysterious new allies. Chairman Basil Wenceslas, in a vendetta against the free-spirited Roamers, ignores the soldier machine backbone of the Hansa fighting force. King Peter has long suspected that the compies, built with the help of the ancient Klikiss robots, cannot be trusted. In the coming war, humans and Ildirans will both face their darkest choices yet.