The final book in The Cloud Warrior Saga. A year has passed since the last attack, and Marin remains at large. Tan and the elementals know she will not remain that way for much longer. Power builds, and Tan knows that he will have to fight again soon. He is willing to do whatever it takes to protect his precocious-and surprisingly powerful-daughter. The Mistress of Darkness begins her final plans, attacking not only Tan but everything the Mother has created. When Tan's attempt to thwart her lends her even more power, he loses the one thing he feared most. Stopping the Mistress of Darkness will require a sacrifice, and Tan must understand the cycles that have preceded him, cycles as old as time. If he succeeds, the cycle will begin again, but he wonders if there might be some way for the Shaper of Light to stop the cycle for good.