In the autumn of 1630, Inocent Stryker's first year of military service ended. But life in a mercenary unit is hard and full of danger, and a brutal war wreaks destruction and horror across Europe that he could never have imagined. Stryker has few allies and much to do. When his company is given an apparently simple mission - to pick up a spy at a remote ford and bring him safe and sound back to his Swedish masters, Stryker jumps at the opportunity to prove himself. But the mercenaries do not know that their enemies in the Catholic League already know about the infiltrator. They recruit the Swedes' eternal rivals from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Stryker's mission goes awry, his company scatters under the onslaught of the continent's most fearsome cavalry, the winged Polish Hussars. In the nightmare that follows, Stryker must make a choice. He can run or fight.

This story is a prequel to the Civil War Chronicles series of novels by Michael Arnold.

Translation: Historical Novel Group, 2015.