Cigoerne's Mirror Lances commander Lerial leads three troops on a mission to protect Afrit and Cigoerne from a Heldya invasion, an effort that is complicated by Lerial's troubled past.

Earning a promotion after the events in Imager's Battalion, Quaeryt is placed under the command of his brother-in-law, Bhayar, and leads an Imagers team into hostile lands once held by the tyrannical Rex Kharst, where they confront a powerful order of women.

Decades after the fall of Cyador, its survivors have reestablished themselves in Cigoerne, a fertile country coveted by hostile neighbors in less hospitable lands. Young Lerial, the second son of Duke Kiedron, lives in the shadow of his older brother, Lephi, the heir to their father's realm. Lerial's future seems preordained: he will one day command his brother's forces in defense of Cigoerne, serving at his older sibling's pleasure, and no more. But...

A collection of short stories set in the world of the Recluce saga features seventeen new tales and four popular reprints spanning the thousand-year history of Recluse, in an anthology complemented by a background essay.