Keepers of Lightning—does this remind you of anything? Yes, of course! The shadow of the great Tolkien hovers over the pages of this book. Shadow - because where in Tolkien’s trilogy there is white, in Nichols’ novel it is black. Not all elves here are noble and fair, not all orcs are treacherous and vindictive, and the sacred artifact that the elven queen sends the orcs to obtain, apart from a new terrible danger, does not promise anything good... Captain Strike, commander of the Wolverines, an orc squad of mercenaries, violates the queen’s order Jennesty about the delivery to the capital of an ancient artifact captured during the defeat of the human village of Domopolye. Enraged, Jennesta gives chase to the traitors. Hiding from their pursuers and looking for loot stolen by the kobolds, the Wolverines meet with the scientist gremlin Mobbs, who tells them the legend associated with the artifacts. It turns out that by collecting all five magical items, you can save the country from inevitable magical exhaustion. Strike doesn’t really believe the scientist, but still decides to get the artifacts in the hope of exchanging the queen’s forgiveness for them...