The emperor has fallen and his heirs have disappeared. New contenders for the throne rise up threatening to tear the cave city and the empire apart as they vie with each other to rule. While generals contest the emperor's fortress, wizards and warlocks wait readying to judge them worthy or use their magic to wrest it from them once more. Torva, a wizard hunter, and Megannah, a wizard teacher, use their talents to try and keep the city from descending into chaos while trying to find the spies from Southwall believed to still be in the city. While he searches for the enemy wizards who launched the ambush which ended in the emperor's death, Megan follows the grand master of the school's plan to keep watch over the generals already living within the emperor's spire as their armies begin to slowly move closer to all out war. Orcs, trolls and goblins become challengers to the humans and elves who have ruled them for so long. Without the power of the emperor to hold the races together, old hatreds begin to rear up adding to the chaos making the city more dangerous than ever. Drawn into the plots of their guild leaders, the lovers soon find themselves moving behind the lines as more factions continue to rise seeking the goal of the emperor's crown. Their only hope as they begin to lose faith in those who lead them is a young apprentice with the ability to create portals in distant lands. Looking for safety for the helpless humans and elves in the city as well as trying to protect the other apprentices. It becomes a race against time to find sanctuary amidst the chaos of a brewing war in the broken empire