June 1865:
The Dimensional Veil has been breached, allowing monsters from beyond the Numinous to enter the human world of the Gaia American Union. They are the Eelees: reptilian invaders who blasted a dimensional pathway from their own realm into the human world in pursuit of conquest. Riding their monstrous spider-mounts, they begin a war with humanity that still rages seven years later. By sheer force of will, determination, and the resurgent powers of magic and technology, the Gaia Defense Coalition has forced a stalemate, but with little hope of a final victory.
Five disparate souls struggle to survive: Nurse Matron Miriam Kosanavic serving aboard the hospital train Aesculapius; Lakota “ Demon Hunter” and ornithopter pilot Sky Wolf and his spirit-brother, the white cougar Torra; Jom, an escaped human prisoner from the Eelees, harboring a startling secret; and an Eelee shapeshifter who may be more powerful than anyone realizes.
And amid the chaos, a young orphan girl named Hope strives to find her voice, to sing a song for the future of humans and Eelees alike.