Surrender to the Will of the Night

Piper Hecht's first and greatest secret is that he knows how to kill gods. What's not a secret is that he knows how to win wars.

Hecht's secrets make him dangerous, but his skill and his reputation put him in danger—from his enemies, who fear what he might do or who want revenge for what he has already done; and from his friends, who want to use his military gifts for their own purposes.

His sister Heris and his living ancestor Cloven Februaren, the Ninth Unknown, have made Hecht part of their fight against the return of the dark god, Kharoulke the Windwalker. At the same time, the half-mad Empress Katrin wants Hecht to lead the armies of the Grail Empire eastward on a crusade against his old co-religionists the Praman.

Meanwhile, the world is changing. The winters are growing longer and harsher every year, and the seas are getting shallower. The far north and the high mountain ranges are going under the ice, fast. The Wells of Power are getting weaker, and the old evils, the Instrumentalities from the Time Before Time, have begun to ooze back into the world.