Humans are a nearly extinct minority among the warrior-slave races...their will and memory suppressed by a tyrannical and unstoppable empire of magic-wielding elves. But there are legends that tell of another time, when humans and the other slave races were free, tales of a hero who will return one day to lead them in an uprising against their masters. That hero, or so the stories say, will be a human named Drakis. But Drakis Sha-Timuran, a human warrior-slave of House Timuran, gives no credence to these legends. After all, he is happy in his life, fighting for the glory of his House along with the other members of his Cohort. But as they embark on the final stage of a campaign to bring down the last dwarf king, neither Drakis nor his comrades can foresee that the world as they know it is about to come crashing down around them.