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If you like stories of bold brave knights employed in meritorious duty, or tales of ladies delicate and fair, be warned. Beyond Sanctuary, set at the foot of notorious Wizardwall, may be too much for your sensibilities. There wizards, bards, and maidens mingle with murderers and thieves, and the fight breaking out at the next table may be the one that ends your life.

The hero is Tempus, leader of mercenaries and warrior-servant of Vashanka, god of storm and war. With Niko, Cime, and the Froth Daughter Jihan, Tempus faces the archmage Datan and his unholy followers - in a battle for the Rankan Empire's survival and that of his very soul.

When a Rankan messenger is killed in Tyse, Randal, the Stepsons' pet wizard, must read the dead man's mind. What Randal learns brings Niko back from the Misty Isles of Bandara and forces Tempus and his Stepsons into an alliance unholy even by Tysian standards--with Cime the mage killer; Aškelon, lord of dreams; and the Rankan Third Commando, a fighting unit so cruel it gives even the Stepsons pause. Together with Tempus' long-lost daughter, and his elemental lover, Jihan, they must venture beyond accursed Wizardwall itself to battle the Mygdonian Alliance and Roxane's Nisibisi witchcraft.

The intrepid Band (whose central core is Tempus' beloved Stepsons) must figure out who among the Tysian locals, Rankan soldiers, and Mygdonian defectors they can trust--before it's too late. But in a world where a witch can turn a warrior into a flea, where gemstone frogs can rain from the sky, where no one is ever what he seems, where loyalties and ensured by curses, wizardry, and the favor of warring gods... only the immortal Tempus can guarantee an army's success. And not even Tempus can tell the good guys from the bad in Tyse, where everyone plays both ends against the middle--or if the price of victory against Mygdonia will be his Stepsons' souls in their battle

Beyond Wizardwall the northern adventures of Tempus and his Stepsons come to their apocalyptic conclusion at the Festival of Man, where the games are not the scheduled ones of prowess at swordplay or chariot-racing, but games of assassination and treachery, with the Rankan emperor's life and the honor of the Sacred Band at stake.

When Niko quits the Stepsons, he finds that his troubles are just beginning: not only has Death's Queen marshaled new forces to entrap him, but Rankan interests desirous of a change in emperors have singled him out as the perfect assassin. Randal, the Stepsons' pet mage and Niko's former partner, must unite Tempus, the Stepsons, and hellish aid from magical quarters in a desperate attempt to save the defenseless Niko from Death's Queen--and himself.

In imperial Ranke, Tempus finds himself torn between conflicting oaths and pitted against powers not even his immortal strength can vanquish--powers both mortal and immortal, magical and heavenly, so that, in the end, the god-ridden and accursed soldier must make pacts with his most hated enemies--not only Aškelon, the Lord of Dreams, but Death's Queen herself--in order to save the souls of those he loves and the empire he's served so long.

And this time, Tempus' own soul hangs in the balance, as primal forces and even Enlil, the most fearsome storm god of them all, haggle over his fate.