Armies gather in the Northeast, raiders are loose in the lands...
Gaelin's Port is safe, maybe. Danica, unsure about her future as a soldier, reluctantly takes command of the army set to oppose the Beasts while raids and probes breach the northern border.
With danica distracted, Mouse forms a plan. His power has grown and he cannot escape the feeling that Asira does not have the time to wait for the army to rescue her. Mouse does what he does best, make new friends of the old-timers in the mountains. They teach him the way of the land just as the crew of the Gambit taught him the sea. Then he does exactly what Danica does not want him to do, get involved.
But there is a new menace in the shadows and forces moving in the darkness.