On the remote plains of Tarth, a century-old legend finally comes due as rival powers gather around a mysterious indestructible tower and a clock said to measure vengeance itself. When the tower erupts in crimson fire, it seems to fulfill the prophecy of Portox, the brilliant Ofridian scientist who may have hidden a man away for one hundred years to avenge the conquest of his people and the torture of Queen Evalla. From the guarded estate where a dying guardian awaits the return of a promised heir, to the underground chamber where John Pride confronts a physically perfect stranger with no memory of his past, the story unfolds as a sweeping science-fiction mystery of buried origins, inherited guilt, and destiny deferred. As Pride pieces together a family trust stretching back generations, the stranger recovers only fragments: the name Portox, a vision of his mother, and a strange rhyme that hints at forgotten purpose. A fire destroys the hidden chamber, but the sealed box survives, and the young man steps into the world for the first time, choosing for himself the name Bram Forest. Yet his freedom is brief. Captured and dismissed as delusional, Bram clings to a bracelet that may unlock his identity, while distant enemies and haunted rulers fear that the dead past is rising again. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.