Book three of five in the Serpent and the Unicorn Series (available as a trilogy), finds the Brethren caught between the indifferent nations and the combined forces of their perennial enemies. While the nations must be prepared for war, a much more dire foe is revealed who cannot be defeated by any known means. The search for an answer sends Tristan and his companions on a journey that might well be futile for its object passed out of human knowledge centuries ago; failure to obtain that which they seek means a bleak future for mankind, if he has any future at all. It is a race against time, indifference, and disbelief upon which the fate of the world hangs. Will they be in time?