The War of the Lance is long over. The seasons come and go. The pendulum of the world swings. Now it is summer. A hot parched summer, such as no one in Krynn has ever known. The uneasy balance starts to shift. The pendulum moves into light. Didtraught by a grevious loss, the young mage Palin Majere seeks to enter the Abyss in search of his lost uncle, the infamous archmage Raistlin. The pendulum swings the opposite direction, to darkness. The Dark Queenb has found new champions. Devoted followers, loyal to death, the Knights of Takhisis follow the Vision to victory. A dark paladin, Steel Brightblade, rides to attack the High Clerist;s Tower, the fortress his father died defending. The pendulum ceases to move at all. On a small island, the mysterious Irda capture an ancient artifact and use it to ensure their own safety. Usha, child of the Irda, arrives in Palanthas claiming that she is Raistlin's daughter. The summer will be deadly. Perhaps it will be the last summer Ansalon will ever know. Searing flames consume the dry grass. Chaos, father of the gods, returns.