Abiassa's people fall. Her Fierian dwindles. Her Deliverers wait as Poired Dyrth marches unchecked through the Nine Kingdoms. He's taken the Embers of countless Accelerants. He's taken Zaethien and Hetaera, the mightiest cities of the Nine. He's taken the blood of the royal family. Now Dyrth is after Haegan's power--the Fierian's power. And after that, he wants the world. He will not take it unopposed. Battered and outnumbered, the remnant of the Nine forge new alliances, make friends of enemies, and prepare to stand against the last great press of evil. In faith, they wait. The Fierian will come. War raging without and within, Abiassa's people face their greatest need. But before the Fierian can fulfill his destiny, he has to defeat the enemy in his own mind.