Professor Piers Knight, an esteemed curator at the Brooklyn Museum, is regarded by many on the staff as a revered institution of his own, if not an outright curiosity. Knight's portfolio includes lost civilisations; arcane cultures, languages, and belief; and more than a little bit of the history of magic and mysticism. His colleagues don't know that, in addition to being a scholar of all things ancient, he is schooled in the uses of magical artefacts, the teachings of forgotten deities, and the threats of unseen dangers.If a mysterious object surfaces, Professor Knight makes it his job to figure it out – and make sure it stays out of dangerous hands. A researcher on an expedition in the Middle East calls Knight's attention to just such an object in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum – before it becomes the target of a sorcerous attack that leads to a siege on a local precinct house by a fire elemental. What looks like an ordinary inscribed stone may unlock an otherworldly Armageddon that certain dark powers are all too eager to bring about – and only Piers Knight stands in their way.