Welcome to Book 3 of Season 9...

The fire Hermessi of Cerix is dying, and the planet is growing cold. Inalia is expected to take over Brann's place, but she doesn't know how to do it or what it entails. All she knows is millions of lives are at stake, and time is running out.

Meanwhile, the fae are falling ill under the Hermessi's strange new influence. The link between their bodies and souls will soon break, leaving them exposed for the Hermessi to do with as they please.

Then there's a surprise encounter with a most unexpected creature, one who hails from a world with which our Shadian heroes have had only the occasional brush... but one who could potentially lead them to real answers.