To push back against the invading Insects, the Immortals of the Circle build a dam and form a lake, and it finally looks as if some progress will be made in the endless war. Comet Jant, who is the Messenger, who can fly, is distracted at the last minute when he heads off to the city of his miss-spent youth in search of the daughter of Lightning, a fellow Immortal who has been a mentor and father-figure to him. The search rather unexpectedly takes him to the world of the Shift, but more unexpectedly when he gets back catastrophe has struck, potentially world-ending and it's all hands on deck to fight back against a horrifying new threat.

A climactic-feeling third volume with an epic sweep and unexpected ending that leaves the Fourlands and the Circle shaking and changed.