Against the odds, the cult has triumphed. The Queen of Kalleron is no more, and the immortal King has lost his elemental weapon. Yet every action has a consequence, and the South Wall cabal has wrought a terrible revenge. They have purged the city of the remnants of the cult. Secrecy and paranoia have built a wall of silence around Kalleron.

Petra escaped her fate in Seawall, and now lives in exile with her crew. In Laria, she leads a routine life, finding trade where she can, sailing where she must. Kallisa brokers her contracts, and the former overseer has become part of Petra’s inner circle. Shadow protests her presence, but his interest in the raven-haired beauty is clear. One misty morning, an ocean anomaly troubles Petra’s newfound peace. When no threat presents itself, she settles once more, although she knows something grim is stirring in the world.

In Kalleron, the resurrected Golden King summons the great General Aracyse to his court. There, he gives him a new order. It catches Aracyse off-guard, but he duly follows his King’s command. Sent to New Thania, he reunites with an old friend from the wars. It is there that the brutal truth of his new order is revealed. With his eyes on the northern frontier, the general sets sail with Kalleron’s formidable new naval fleet.

In the Northern Lands, lulled into a sense of security, Petra is blind to the King’s barbaric plans. As she watches her friends bond, and the sisters grow, seismic events rock her world. A quake rumbles across the earth, and there are rumours of a white witch stalking the land. Ill omens abound. And when whispers of spies carry on the wind, she knows her moment of peace is over. Old faces appear on new shores, crushing hope underfoot. War is coming. The elementals have returned. And the dawn of eternity draws near.
 

...the right book should feel like you’re catching up with old friends. Well, these characters feel like friends to me now. More so given how more information around their backgrounds is woven into the various storylines... you are once again drawn into their world...piecing together the bonds...which carry on through lifetimes (I’ve read book IV). It has adventure, love, loyalty, and pain. Beautifully written and elegantly portrayed.

--J Evans (UK)