Once there were four realms, and a season for each, perpetual and unchanging. The fall veteran Commander Lord Versos lives in pain and regret at the Traveling Court of his realm. For as long as the bards of his homeland can remember, his warrior culture had been locked in combat with the spring empire of Vesna until a sudden armistice forced this once-mighty warrior into uneasy retirement. But when a mysterious messenger brings word that an impossible, vast monster is ravaging his old foes, Lord Versos rides out to investigate-and embarks on the last great adventure of his military career.If a god can be slain, a dragon must. But when Lord Versos finally reaches the shores of his homeland, he is captured by a long-forgotten enemy revealing truths about his realm he had never considered. A hidden power that may bring all to their knees rises. The realm he used to protect is torn by fratricide and the Commander shoulders the blame. And as the civil war unfolds, the losses pile up high and wide-but to him, mostly near and dear. Lord Versos fosters a new allegiance-but the greatest ally may yet be the ultimate foe.