The border city of Wilmshire suffered another disaster since the massacre by the Tarconian knights. The plague brought Calthiok's deathly hand and ended the lives of many civilians. The streets of Wilmshire were washed with blood, lit by raging fires, and filled with cries of anguish once again. But since their last tragedy, the citizens learned a valuable lesson - Wilmshire perseveres, and it shall do so again.
With the help of Salyah and her allies, a new outbreak of the plague has been brought to an end. The price was high and the damage the outbreak caused will leave a mark on the city for many years. Still, hope remains in the hearts of Wilmshire citizens. Their previous mayor's death had been avenged, their despotic ruler had been brought to his knees and deals a fitting end, and their beloved mayor's rightful successor had returned home, a successor the citizens themselves chose - Carro. With his leadership and the connections he has with Sharawal's elite Wilmshire will be rebuilt in time. That fact is not in anyone's doubt.
Alas, with Carro's newly appointed position on the political stage, Salyah lost her most trusted companion. She is forced to brave the rest of her journey without him - a journey that leads her into the vast deserts of Arxen to board the train that will take her to her company's HQ. What's worse, she still has to suffer Tylian's companionship, along with ever cowardly monk Lag'sha.
The first step of their mission may have been an unfortunate failure, but there is still a chance to salvage it and make it to HQ in a reasonable time. After all, their only goal is to find the train station in the village of Altidara and board the train.
Unfortunately, much like the forced lesson Wilmshire's citizens learned, Salyah will have to learn one of her own - since the war mercy is in short supply, and the weak quickly find themselves at the end of a blade's edge. Salyah and her companions, however, will find themselves caught between an endless furnace that is the Arxenian desert and a half-decade-long civil war.
Salyah is once again thrust into the reality of the world she never knew - a reality without compassion. The time of the train's arrival is the difference between life and death, for an army led by a tyrannical Arxenian prince, and poised to destroy Altidara and all its villagers quickly approach as well. Salyah's only hope lies with a group of partisan fighters known as the Sekhur, the remnants of the once mighty army that dared challenge the tyrant who now rules over them.
Alas, the leader of the Sekhur is not so keen on helping Salyah and her companions - people he sees as dishonorable and treacherous. His life was forged in the aftermath of the war, and the supposed betrayal Salyah's home country of Sharawal brought upon Arxen, their former allies. Thus, Salyah's only hope of survival is to earn the trust of a mistrusting and enigmatic leader of the Sekhur - a man only known as Rustin.
