Exiled Khar-elt and his adopted siblings have found peace at the very edge of the world in backwater Sola-Tay, so long as Khar-elt's sword and gift for command can earn coin solving problems for local lords. But youngest sibling, Trantis, has found a purse of gold that belongs to the chief priest and faces a death sentence, though he is innocent. Saving him will doom the siblings to flee again into further exile, but may plunge the region into ruin. For the demon-gods of Sola-Tay have awakened and will exact a price from all if the malefactor is not sacrificed.