Storms rage across the Sharani desert. Those clansmen who survived the devastation in the Oasis take refuge in the Roterralar Warren. But just as they grew to understand in the Oasis, maybe they weren't meant to be together at all. Change is in the wind. The Orinai are coming. Gavin struggles to find his place within the clans while Beryl begins to recognize that what he did in calling the Orinai will have devastating consequences. In an effort to atone for that, he sets in motion events that will lead to the end of safety and, possibly, the destruction of the Rahuli people. After waking from weeks of troubled slumber, Lhaurel struggles with what she had to do in the Oasis and the burgeoning powers within her. As everything she holds dear begins to fall apart again she is plagued with the one, most important question. Can she save her people once again or is she unwilling to pay that price?