No Direction

In 1021 AD, most of Europe and some of its neighboring territories was secretly under the dominion of a supernatural cabal that calls itself the Council. A man who shouldn't matter at all threatens to disrupt their rule, and they've dispatched a Hunting party composed of three ancient and powerful Ascended to chase him across the Iberian Peninsula and catch him.

They have everything they need. Aurelian of Arles is a powerful and renowned Hunter. Their Seeker, Eirleida, can find a discarded pin on the other side of the world. And a Maker known as Leontios of Miletus carries with him wonders that sometimes make the other two's heads spin. They are chasing a man so weak he was barely able to Ascend at all. It should have been an easy hunt.

Yet nothing ever seems to go the way it should. Whenever they think they've pinned down the renegade, he slips through their grasp. When they think they have the advantage, they find he has turned the tables on them. Neither superior strength nor the backing of an organization that makes kings kneel seems to have any effect on their quarry.

Everything they know about the world—and about Hunting in particular—is being turned on its head by this one man who should have turned around and surrendered as soon as he found out they were after him. As the narrow escapes, traps, and manipulations stack up, the team begins to realize that what they thought were failures on their part were really the successes of plans carefully laid by the very man they are supposed to catch.

As the Hunt leads the party out of Iberia, out of Europe, it also takes them further from Council support and authority. Soon, they find themselves on their own, and with no idea how to stop their quarry before he finds whatever it is he seeks.