Why does magic - the driving force of the world - once every five hundred years pit two of the strongest powers in a bloody war that throws civilization back centuries? Followers of the proud teaching of the Arseites are sure: magic is the embodied will of the primordial Evil. Only the Merciful Mother Arset is able to resist this Evil, but her divine powers are not unlimited...Now the war is about to break out again. The Kingdom of Allendor and the Uarr Empire have already entered into a struggle for world domination. The Allendorians are relying on new powerful weapons, while the Uarr necromancer magicians have dared to resurrect from the dead the greatest commander of bygone eras. There is less and less time to avert the inevitable. But Arset, determined to prevent a new bloodbath, decides to empower three people - the young magician Lonsie, the warlike maiden Yucinele and the young heir to the Uarr throne Moregtai...