The darkness is rising, and the Court of Hercandoloff realizes that the only way to avert true disaster is to attack the instigators. It will take a great deal of secrecy and deception. With Arrowsmith on a secret mission of his own, Infamous missing, and the other members of the Court riding north with the army to Monshikka's home kingdom of Kirianna, the Wizard King Blackbird finds himself facing foes alone in his own palace. The search for Infamous leads the Court to the long-dead remains of the holy city of Palaklais and the Temple of the Creator, but what they find there does not give them hope. The question remains: How does one defeat that which cannot be killed?