Fleeing the trap laid for them by the treacherous David Burns, Crispin and Mickey strike out for Okimako, where Mickey is reunited with the family he abandoned to join the Disciples. Crispin struggles to reconcile his apocryphal visions with the political realities of Okimako. Meanwhile, on the far side of the continent, Rae faces the appalling truth about the cult to which she has attached herself.
Kirekune is winning the war in the Wraithwaste, but a Significant victory will have terrible consequences for humans and daemons alike.