Once, men and neanderthals shared the Summerlands between the Cheama Sea to the South and the Hailthorn Mountains in the North. But from across the seas the Empire came, borne on huge clockwork-driven ships, their black powder alchemy proving stronger than flint axes, steel swords and naked courage. The old ways were lost as the new Fire God blazed; the tribes subdued, the Flint Folk exiled beyond the Hailthorns. Seven generations later the Empire prepares for war with a ruthless and cruel enemy to the South. To fuel their war machine, the Empire demands levies of men and taxes from its northern provinces during the summer muster. One such levy is a young Gewichas warrior, Tuan Blackstone. Called to the banners, he faces a harsh future under the iron discipline of his Commander; but a brighter destiny is revealed to him that unites the cause of the peoples of the Summerlands in magic that predates the Empire's alchemy. Behind the light of his destiny long shadows grow, for war and treachery have come to the Summerlands.