Europe stands on the brink of collapse. The continent is consumed by the fires of a secret war between Magicians and a Gnostic insurgency headed by esoteric mystics with powers beyond what the greatest masters of the arcane can even imagine. As countries fall one by one to their despotic rule, it is usually Marion Gutenberg’s policy to stay out of such matters. Besides, what can one person do against an army of Gnostics? Her thinking soon turns when her past comes knocking. The leader of the insurgents is not some stranger with newfound powers. It’s Marion’s father. Under the influence of a dark force from her childhood, the simple people of Marion’s hometown have become warmongering Cathar zealots who view the Megawgs as gods. Recalling her encounter with that great evil a year and a half ago, the Companions are the only ones capable of stopping them before they can unearth a terrible weapon from the ashes of the last Magician War. But while the Companions fight, the question remains. Will Marion have the strength to defeat this evil, even if it means causing her own family pain, or will she break under the pressure?