Embla, second planet from the Sun. A planet where dusk till dawn takes 56 days. City Six, with its 230 million inhabitants, is a city dominated by the Dark mage guilds because light cannot penetrate the depths of a city the height of a mountain. In a city with no laws, a conflict is brewing.
A battle mage retires to a life of asceticism and research, searching for answers in the Darkness. A young Dark mage comes in to her power. A Light mage team journeys from their stronghold by the sun to spy upon the Dark mages. A young pilot ekes out a living on the fringes of interstellar transport. A Life mage searches for a key to power. Together their lives head towards an inexorable crescendo, as the powers of Dark and Light grapple for control of the system.