After a life and death struggle, Thomas company have landed solidly on all four feet on top of the magical world. They have money, power and the favor of the Archmagi. The magi tell him to settle and get comfortable, change is gradual. Nuts to that! In defiance of the Talking Animal Union Thomas opens the Freelance Familiars for business recruiting a new trio of disgruntled familiars, including The Black Shadow who Strikes at Midnight, an angry weasel and golden retriever who cannot help to ponder imponderables what does it really mean to be a Good Boy? Oric strikes back and it's an all-out war between the Freelance Familiars and the TAU. Can they uproot a centuries old institution or will Thomas' rapid rise end with a fall directly into a grave?