Cade begins his narration by asking the reader to imagine a "wizard" and then informs us that if we're seeing an old man with a long beard and pointy hat that we're idiots who've read too many fairy tales. He then drops straight into a battle where he and his fellow mercenary "wonderists" are laying siege to a city. Cade himself is pretending to be a wonderist who's magic is tied to the plane of Fortune, but in reality bargains for spells with the Infernals. His closest friend is a "thunderer" who is known to laugh as his lightning shatters walls and crushes defenders. Wonderists take on physical and mental traits from their plane of attunement, so they're a truly motley crew. This particular battle is taking place because the city refuses to recognize the latest religious leader chosen by the Lords Celestine, or gods of the Celestial plane. Personally, Cade believes that the Lords Celestine have lost their minds and he plans to murder the asshole who employs them. Cade's murder mission is interrupted when his fellow wonderists decide to kill him because the Glorian Justiciars have arrived. His ties to the Infernal plane aren't as secret as he thought, so Cade's fellow wonderists plan to kill him in the hopes that it will distract the Justiciars long enough for the rest of them to escape. Remember, just when things look bad they can always get worse..