On Christmas Eve, around 1812, Pip, an orphan who is about six years old, encounters an escaped convict in the village churchyard while visiting the graves of his mother, father, and siblings. The convict scares Pip into stealing food and a file to grind away his shackles, from the home he shares with his abusive older sister and her kind, passive husband Joe Gargery, a blacksmith. The next day, soldiers recapture the convict while he is engaged in a fight with another convict; the two are returned to the prison ships from which they escaped...

The Mahildrim Empire looks to expand again. They cover the Known World. Can they be stopped or do the people of Aliad, and those leading them, have enough to stop them? In this tug of war every battle, sometimes every decision and kill will affect the outcome.