Round two of the struggle between the wizard Safar Timura and King of Kings Iraj Protarus, once boyhood friends, now the deadliest of enemies. Indeed, Safar thought he'd killed Iraj at the end of Wizard of the Winds (1997), but instead Iraj has returned from the dead; now, supported by his spell-brothers who can all transform themselves into huge and terrible wolves, he's more powerful than ever. But Safar, his beloved Leiria, and his son Palinak have another problem: An evil Something, active beneath the surface of the Earth, threatens to break through at Caluz and destroy everything. This force is mediated by a massive machine that chums out mechanical magic; somehow, Safar must destroy it. One for the fans. The publishers are pushing the series hard, but it just isn't sturdy enough to withstand pressure.