Erevis Cale's shadow legacy lives on, even as his old enemy Mephistopheles tries to get rid of him at any cost. Cale's son Vasen - frozen in time by the god Mask - was thus protected from the dark intrigues of the archdevil: Vasen was among the servants of the Lord of Light, who raised the guy. Living in a remote abbey among the Stormy Peaks of Sembia, Vasen often had nightmares about his own father, imprisoned in an icy dungeon in Kaniya. The boy knows that the day is coming when he must play his part in the divine drama unfolding in Faerun. But Vasen doesn't know what his role will be... or whether he's ready for it. Young Cale only knows what his father tells him in his dreams - that Vasen should not screw up. Dryzek Riven, once a fellow countryman of Erevis Cale, also suffers from his own nightmares - he knows that the time will soon come to act. Shar, the great goddess of darkness, longs to cover the world with her shadow forever. Riven has seen in a vision the entire night cycle that Shar seeks to bring to life, and Dryzek knows that the goddess must be stopped. At the crossroads of divine intrigue and the destinies of mortals, heroes so different from each other unite to push back the threats looming over the world from the shadows and Hell, while the Schism of the Worlds is coming.