The desolate world Mikuhr is home to a once-proud people now on the verge of extinction. Conflict explodes when apprentice priest Kiel Caldwell arrives to investigate rumors of new spiritual revelation, but he is kidnapped by a demon possessed telepath who thinks he might be a predicted messiah. And when Kiel's loose-cannon military brother Kinnor arrives to investigate, a local leader with revenge on her mind threatens to bring down ruin on them all. It's up to returning Mikuhran diplomat Wind Haworth to head off a conflict that could have spiritual, political and military consequences--but no one foresees the consequences of introducing the Mikuhran Wind Haworth to Federate military Sentinel Kinnor Caldwell.