The very end of twenty-five eons has almost arrived: the moment when the four Elder Gods, replaced by their alternate Younger Gods, must sleep for eternity. At the same time, hidden deep within the Wasteland, the Vlagh breeds her largest, deadliest insectoid horde for a final, all-out war to overrun the land of Dhrall and devour humanity. Even as the Vlagh prepares her monstrous invasion army, the people of Dhrall face an even greater danger-from the gods themselves. For one of the Elder Gods, Aracia, has grown addicted to being worshipped by mortals. And she's gone quite insane, convinced that the child deity Lillabeth wants to usurp her worship. Desperate to survive, Aracia knows she can stay in power forever if she does the most terrible, unthinkable act: murder one of the Younger Gods. But in her madness, Aracia no longer remembers or understands that the Elder Gods are forbidden to take life-not as an ethical rule, but as a basic principle of existence. If Aracia kills Lillabeth, the result won't bring mere catastrophe to the land of Dhrall. It will cause the absolute, utter unmaking of all creation.