Dain Gladstone has come a long way since his mercenary days. He's settled down and forged a life in the rich lands of Galena. The years have been good to him, Sera, his wife and ruler of the Wood Elves, and their adopted daughter Jin. It hasn't been easy, but among Sera's people they've settled into a watchful and quiet life. Now that way of life is in danger.
After biding her time an old enemy returns and this time she has the most powerful of allies, an ancient evil that covets the land of the elves for the near limitless power it contains. This evil hungers for nothing less than total conquest.
Surviving the coming nightmare will draw the Gladstone family closer than ever, and in that closeness Dain is forced to confront his past. The betrayal that cost him his life in the Paladin Order, the terrible loss of his home in the Karelian Empire, the deaths of his friends and comrades.
In the deepest blackness, the Light shines ever brighter.