Everything in Aster's world has fallen apart. The great sorcerer, Almara, has leapt to his death to protect Aster and Jade, leaving them lost and without a guide to the cosmos. Aster has won the Book of Leveling, but Jade is no longer able to resist the power of the Corentin. She has fallen into his trap, hungry for more of the malice and cruelty she secretly loves. And hanging over Aster is Jade's own threat of murder. Aster is alone again, unable to clear his mind of the loss of his best friend and her mentor father. But when he discovers the armies assembling to attack the cities in the Triaden, and sees how the children of the lands are being used to fuel the campaign, he is renewed in his resolve to set things right in the Fold. He must find his way back to the friends who will stand beside him in the great battles to come. But when he finds Stonemore under a wicked enchantment, nothing is as he remembers. Now Aster must seek the great gold stone that Jade possesses, hoping that it will be enough to balance the Fold, and that his own magic will finally break through the fear of failure that has plagued him all along.