The leader of the Arms, Carol Hancock, returns to the Transform community following her successful quest to find a Chimera ally, only to find the Transform community in chaos and despair. The Hunters strike against Chicago has left the Transforms vulnerable and nearly defenseless due to the many dead and wounded. As she begins to pick up the pieces from the wreckage of the war, she faces two problems – how to defeat the Hunters and their growing power, and how to best utilize Mizar, the 'Beast' she, Focus Lori Rizzari and Crow Guru Sky fetched from the Canadian arctic.The west coast Transforms find they are now on the front line against the Hunters and their depredations. Led by the Arm Rose Webberly and her innovative four Major Transform household, and distantly aided by the small but very mobile army of Arm Amy Haggerty and her Noble partner Duke Hoskins, the west coast Transforms are woefully lacking in the resources necessary to stop the Hunters. Worse, they find they are facing new and unexpected enemies.The Hunters' war against the Cause and the Transform community enters its final weeks. The Hunter Empire's victory, which appears certain, will end the Cause and, as they promise, enslave or kill all the Transforms in the United States. Carol and her people must find some way to save the Transform community or it will perish under her command.