The Realms are merging. War is returning. One minute Alvin's lying beside a stream. The next, he's drowning in a frozen lake. As the icy waters envelop him, he doesn't think it can get much worse. But it will. He's about to discover that the tranquil world he calls home is but one part of a fractured whole and that not all the pieces are as pleasant as the one he inhabits. To make matters worse, the pieces are merging and becoming one again. It's up to Alvin to stop them and prevent his home from being overrun by war. Little does he know that, succeed or fail, his world will change forever, and that the Realms hold more secrets than Alvin could possibly have imagined...