"The world of Pandemia seethes with tension as imperial troops wage war along its borderlands and omens predict disaster.

While they follow Imperial decrees and take the war to the elves, King Rap in Krasnegar receives a warning from the gods that he must lose one of his children.

After his son sees a vision of a legionary, he realizes that this has to do with the upcoming millennium, he sets out for Hub, the capital of the Impire, to speak with his friend the Imperor.

Thaïle, a Gifted pixie in mysterious Thume, stands Death Watch over a neighbor, and receives her first Word of power.

Shandie immediately seizes administrative control, and plans on how to meet with the young man he saw in the pool (who turns out to be Rap son).

The land of Zark, which features prominently in the first series and again briefly in this story, is based largely upon cultural and geographic elements from the Middle East.