The hunt begins. Quee-Keg leads the speeder-hooks in pursuit of a Molok, but the kill is lost when a Kobalt, the eco galaxy terrorists, fleet ambushes the crew — leaving wreckage, betrayal, and Akhaab's wrath in their wake. Docking at the forest-world Orobos, Ishmaeel's drunken misstep delivers him into the hands of the fanatical priests of Dakon — zealots who demand blood sacrifice to feed their abyssal god. To save him, Quee-Keg and Rolloh must descend into a nightmare of smoke, stone, and tentacles, where faith is madness and monsters are very real. Friendship, fury, and survival collide in the shadow of a living god.