Arjun arrives in Ararat just as a magnificent winged creature sails over the city. It is the day of the return of that long-awaited mystical creature: the great Bird. As it soars across the land, as the city's mapless streets are transformed, as the great river changes its course, as the territories of the city's avian life are redrawn, crowds cheer and guns salute. Then comes the time for the Bird's power to be trapped--within the hull of the floating warship Thunderer, now a living temple to the Bird, and a terrible new weapon to be used, allegedly, in the interests of all of Ararat.

Hurtled into this convulsing world is Arjun, who will unwittingly unleash a dark power beyond his imagining--and dare to test Ararat's moving boundaries. For in this city of gods, he has come to search among them, not to hide.