Search Worlds Without End

The Great Guilds had conspired for centuries to keep Dematr unchanged. The Mechanics Guild kept secret the technolgy for steam locomotion, rifles, and far-talkers, leaving most people to live in a world of oil lamps, crossbows, and horse cavalry, while the Mages treated all others as if they were nothing - until Master Mechanic Mari, dragon slayer and pirate queen, and Master of Mages Alain raised the army of the new day to free their world.

Kira of Pacta Servanda, the daughter of the two greatest heroes of her world, was six years old the day she stood on a battlement in Dorcastle, kept safe from the nearby crowds by bodyguards as she stared up at a statue of her mother. As the morning sun cast the shadow of Mari's statue over Kira, she realized that she would spend the rest of her life in that shade.

Then the world of Dematr learned that a new kind of ship had left the far-distant world of Urth. The ship would take just 10 years to cover the immense distances between stars. Of all the colony worlds, the ship was coming to Dematr. But for what purpose? Kira was 16 when the ship from Urth arrived, and she discovered that her world still needed heroes.

Twenty years after the war that overthrew the Great Guilds, the Empire is vowing to avenge the massive defeat of the Imperial legions at Dorcastle. Aiding the Imperials are renegade Mechanics and Mages still loyal to the old Guilds or employed by the Empire.

But before they can launch an all-out war, the Imperials must eliminate a major threat: Kira, daughter of Master Mechanic Mari and Master of Mages Alain. Kidnapped and imprisoned, Kira has to escape and avoid recapture as the full might of the Empire is aimed at her. Her only hope lies in the skills she has mastered; her indomitable spirit; and the unfailing aid of Jason, her boyfriend from the distant world of Urth.

With the Imperial legions closing in and thousands of lives riding on her efforts, Kira has to use every weapon available to her, including special abilities she has kept secret until now - abilities that may prove to be as dangerous as the enemy forces. Mari and Alain must come to Kira's aid and work to create an alliance against the Empire.

If they fail, a deadlier new war will erupt, with every soldier carrying a rifle instead of a sword or crossbow - and the Peace of the Daughter will end in a bloodbath.

Ancient weapons of mass destruction lie hidden under the city of Pacta Servanda. Remnants of the Great Guilds and rebellious factions of the Empire want to seize those weapons to allow them to regain control of the world of Dematr. Only Jason, brought by the first ship from Earth since the colony failed, might be able to disarm the threat. But he also might know how to employ those weapons, making him a danger for all sides.

Standing between those threats is Kira of Dematr. But Kira, who inexplicably has been able to manifest Mage powers as well as technical skills, finds herself being consumed by the mental conflicts between those powers and skills. As rogue Mechanics, Mages, and mercenaries attack with every weapon at their disposal, Kira suffers more blackouts and begins to lose her mind. The fate of her world rests on whether she can stay alive and find answers in time to problems that no one else has ever confronted.