A young master of ceramics is thrust into contact with the Quathiels, the elemental creatures of this world, and he must learn all he can of the sorcerous arts from them if he is to rescue his betrothed. The conflict between the Quathiels and the humans who came from beyond the Dark had waxed and waned over the centuries. Five hundred years ago The Blessed Plague swept through the human empire freeing the Keldanan Prefecture from the Old Countries, forcing the surviving sorcerers to retreat into the cold southern lands. They strove endlessly to retake the fertile temperate northern lands but the Quathiels pressed forward sweeping up many into their dance. Ross Cambridge lived in a village, far from Keldana's desert border, but his bucolic life was upended when a sorcerer and his company swept through the region, destroying the town's ancient bridge, setting homes ablaze, and taking slaves. Ross's betrothed was one of those taken. It was said that only the mercy of a sharp...
