The magician Matokin has embarked on a rite of conquest. The city-states of the Isthmus are failing before his unstoppable army, soldiered by his fellow sorcerers, and commanded by a general whose tactics echo those of the legendary warlord, Dardas,who died in his own campaign of conquest more than two hundred and fifty years earlier...

The magician Matokin has embarked on a rite of conquest. The city-states of the Isthmus are failing before his unstoppable army, soldiered by his fellow sorcerers, and commanded by a general whose tactics echo those of the legendary warlord, Dardas,who died in his own campaign of conquest more than two hundred and fifty years earlier...

In the flesh, LordWeisel has been leading Matokin's forces to victory. In mind and spirit, it is Dardas himself--resurrected bv the magician and olaced inside a host body. But Matokin's desire to unite the Isthmus's citv-states under his rule has clouded hisjudgment. Dardas has ambitions of his own--ambitions that have been unfulfilled for more than two centuries.

But Dardas hasn't been careful enough at hiding his true identity. Scholars familiar with Dardas's strategies have recognized his maneuvers...