After the hard-won battles in Imager’s Battalion, Quaeryt gets promoted to commander, and the assignment to convince the Pharsi High Council in the nation of Khel to submit to Lord Bhayar’s rule. Joined by his pregnant wife Vaelora, Quaeryt leads an army and a handful of imagers deeper into the hostile lands once held by the tyrannical Rex Kharst, facing stiff-necked High Holders, attacks by land and sea—including airborne fire launched by hostile imagers from the land of Antiago—and a mysterious order of powerful women.