This book is the culmination of halfbreed samurai Gonji Sabatake's effort to rouse a city in the escarpments of the Carpathians to rebel against an invading army of mercenaries, monsters and magick. The fates of dozens of characters the reader has come to care about hang in the balance, as a days-long running battle rages through the city, its environs, and the breached castle of Baron Rorka. It is here also that Gonji will encounter an eerie being with whom his destiny has long been intertwined---the enigmatic Simon Sardonis.