The City is a nameless state—simply the City. But the moment any mortal speaks its name aloud, fear grips people. For many decades, the City has been ruled by Areon, the warrior-emperor, who recognizes nothing in this world except war and death. Endless battles with the “blue-skinned” people—so contemptuously the followers of Areon call their neighbors—have driven the inhabitants of the City to the last degree of poverty. Many of them went into the underground halls, known among the people as the Halls—anciently located under the City. Fell, the son of a neighboring king, and the warrior Indaro, together with the “blue-skins,” are making a plan to overthrow the cruel emperor.
But the difficulty is that Areon and the Higher Ones, his close followers, are not people—they are immortal and can control the will of anyone who dares to challenge their power in the City…