CHOOSING A MATE - In the first beast war, long before the current Warrior histories record, the gods embodied the first Warriors with the gods' own powers. When Reg destroys Ori in a mad bid to claim the mother goddess as his own, the distraught young woman is left to choose another mate from among the remaining Warriors. She knows them all by face and cannot choose. There is only one thing left a man believes will matter.

STARTING A WAR - "The mother is drawn to two and calls for them both. The two fight to win her bed and heirs." When Oren and Piet are called before the Stone lord, Gatin, they believe they are to be given extra instruction. Instead, they find themselves faced with the blindfolded and half-naked Ragan. One of them will fall. The other will claim what is rightfully his, by the gods’ decree. Ragan.