After two sol-cycles trapped in a box with a ragtag group of sick and starving children, the golden Kattamont Denvy Maz is finally free. Now, with the help of the Messenger Hunter Titus, he is taking his adopted 'cubs' home to the desert land of Utillia where they'll be safe from the impending eruption of Coltarian. But the Twizels' yoke remains locked around his neck, robbing him of his immortality when he needs it most.
For Jarvis, infected by a Zaprex protector bot and gradually becoming a Human-machine hybrid, Utillia is unlike any place he has ever known. Mist-powered sailing ships travel on oceans of shifting sand, captained by gigantic Kattamonts, while from beneath the dunes come the lonely calls of long-abandoned Zaprex cities. And all the while, on the periphery of his optical lens, a warning signal flashes. This sector is destabilising.
They are about to cross paths with an outcast Kattamont Queen bent on vengeance and a Human scavenger with a great deal to hide.
Denvy and his cubs have forged a new family but their bond will have to shift and change as quickly as the sands of the burning-sea they are sailing upon.