Zea, Wro, Kikkin, and Kiddin find high-gravity Glomingon in the throes of a great war. The three Glomon species have lost their unity as three-piece individuals, fractured into dysfunctional groupings of body sections. A battle soon separates Zea and Kikkin from Wro and Kiddin. Zea and Kikkin fall into the clutches of the haughty Deyedeh served by castes of Sambou and Zamhana, while Wro and Kiddin aid one another in a search for sanity. By their dual cleverness, Wro and Kiddin find it hidden away between the crevasses of a canyon city: a small group of Whole Ones. These unified Glomons refuse to leave their refuge, after having been all but exterminated as abominations. They agree to send Wro and Kiddin out to try to resurrect their knowledge. Zea and Kikkin make an escape, but Zea gets captured. Kikkin trades knowledge of the Deyedeh fort for the help of the Sortou army, the Deyedeh's sworn enemies. Kikkin manages to break Zea free. After their escape, Zea asks Kikkin to teach her how to fight, how to be an honorable warrior. While they train in a Sortou encampment, Kiddin and Wro use the Vault to find Zea's location by her Thunderling ring. When the four reunite, they conceive a plan to prepare the world for the return of the Whole Ones and the way of life they strive to preserve... In a dramatic convergence of armies upon the site of the Whole Ones' refuge, Zea, Wro, Kikkin, and Kiddin prepare to defend the Whole Ones. Will the way of unity find a conduit through Zea and the others around her in time to rescue Glomingon?