The sons of Amarid now know that invaders from the neighboring country of Lon Ser are to blame for the bloody attacks on their people. But the Order of Mages and Masters is paralyzed by indecision and unwillingness to fight and is unable to withstand possible new raids. To prevent disasters, the young magician Orris, in defiance of the Order, undertakes a journey to an unfamiliar, hostile country, to its very heart - Bragor-Nal. There he will see the wonders of technology and the horrors of industrialization, meet with the distant descendants of the Sons of Amarid and with an extraordinary woman, on whom it will depend whether he will save his country and whether he will be saved, or whether both states will be involved in a merciless bloody war.