Fleeing the strange parallel land of Veil, Alison has returned to Minnesota with the mysterious Cup of Earth.Now a provocative encounter draws Alison back to the northern Minnesota Island that acts as a bridge to Veil.But much has changed in Veil. Pits of earthgall waste the land. Alison's neutered Samoyed dog, Rambeau, who has stayed behind to run with wolves, has sired a litter of cubs. Even the Cup-maiden Darnellyne, in the sheltered Ladylofts, suffers from a horrible malady.And Alison's Cup-rival, the self-centered, flame-haired Rowan Firemayne, is now obsessed with the rescue of the small strange folk called Littlelost from a foul servitude, and is determined to create a new, more potent talisman.The Cup's other-world sojourn has left Veil defenseless against a host of ills, including further incursions of the mysterious Cruxmasters - magicians who wield lethal rods of blue light.Alison is forced to resume her reluctant role of the Taliswoman. As she and Rowan unite to fight new dangers and their unwanted attraction for each other, they find allies among the fragile, airborn Sylvins and the earthbound Hammerhands, and a formidable new enemy.And Alison learns that her own world has much to do with Veil's ills. Read Less