Toba and Naftaly have stepped through the Gate of Luz into the mythic world of Aravoth, home to the Ziz, the bird of legend capable of raising the sea. Aravoth--the fabled third realm--is more dizzying and terrifying than Toba or Naftaly could have imagined. Nor had they expected to find someone already there, waiting for them. After barely escaping the burning city of Zayit, Elena and the old woman have a new problem: Barsilay, heir of Luz, is being held for an exorbitant ransom by the paranoid Queen of P'ri Hadar. As Barsilay sits in his dark, demon-inhabited prison cell, he begins to realize the queen is guarding an ancient secret that might be the key to his release. And the tyrant Tarses continues to close in on P'ri Hadar, wielding an army that spans the Mazik and mortal worlds. His newly-powerful visions reveal his most longed-for future--visions that he and Naftaly seem to share. In this triumphant finale, the mirror realms must find their balance or risk being lost altogether.