The war was the easy part...

Minalan the Spellmonger, in his guise as Mirkandar the Magnificent, Doge of Farise, is in a bind: the Duke of Merwyn has sent an armada of seventy ships to conquer his newly-independent realm... and Minalan has never fought a battle at sea. Thankfully, the legendary warmage Durgan Jole has a plan, and with the help of his fellow wizards from Sevendor, Minalan feels confident that Farise can survive the invasion. He doesn't want to kill that many people, but Merwyn has left him little choice.

But then one of the Vundel's leviathans and its pod swim into the middle of the battle, complicating things dramatically. And that's just the start of the real problem. An ancient organization lurks in the background while Minalan struggles for control, and the Emissary of the three Alka Alon High Kings has arrived to hold an investigation on the erratic human wizards and their rise to power. King Rard is growing suspicious of Mirkandar's real identity, and Korbal the Necromancer rises from his crypt to demand that the Spellmonger fulfill an oath he'd made. And, unsurprisingly, his teenage daughter is starting to question everything he's doing.

In the midst of the turmoil comes Moudrost, a Seamage and former member of the Brethren of the Sea, the magical order that alone communicates between the aquatic native inhabitants of Callidore and humanity. He bears a terrifying message: the appearance of the leviathan is no accident. It is coming to Farise, and it is coming for Minalan. It cannot be stopped by mortal men, not even wizards, and it is in no mood to negotiate. The only thing standing between the Vundel and the destruction of humanity now is Minalan the Spellmonger... and one very important Seamage!