Veitch, meanwhile, had returned to life through a ritual in the Grim Lands, and with the help of the Brothers and Sisters of Spiders, he kidnapped Ruth. Feeling even more betrayed and bitter, Veitch had turned his back on the Void and was now determined to bring all of reality crashing down around him.

In Oslo, Veitch found the First Key before Church – Mallory's former friend from Salisbury, Miller, who was using his Existence-given power to heal the sick. And so the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons set off across the world in pursuit of Veitch, Ruth and Miller, awakening the gods of several Great Dominions in the process.

In the Far Lands, Mallory, Sophie and Caitlin had fallen under the manipulation of Niamh, not realising that she had become an agent of the Void. The influence of the Devourer of All Things was spreading across the Otherworld: its Fortress was growing, the Army of Dragons was missing, as were many of the Tuatha De Danaan, and the Enemy's forces were on the march, destroying everything they encountered. Meanwhile, at the Enemy's Fortress, the Burning Man was being created, a giant, flaming matrix that would contain the essence of the Void on its return.

At the last, Niamh's corruption was exposed and the Army of Dragons and missing gods were discovered, but at a terrible price: Niamh used a magickal artefact to wipe Sophie from Existence, a fate truly worse than death, where the Sister of Dragons would never have existed and therefore be forgotten by everyone who knew her. Niamh escaped, and though Mallory liberated her court, he failed to find the Extinction Shears. Unbeknownst to him, they had been hidden with the Market of Wishful Spirit somewhere in the Grim Lands.

Back on Earth, the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons closed in on Veitch, Ruth and Miller. Though Veitch was still bent on revenge, Ruth's influence gradually began to strip away his encysted bitterness, allowing his former heroic nature to surface. In the process, the pair grew closer.