Xenos are Humanity’s primordial enemies, and among their accursed lot, the Aeldari are some of the most vicious and perilous. As every member of this highly advanced xenos species possesses potent psyker abilities, they represent a serious threat even though their numbers in realspace are relatively small. Threatened with extinction, the Aeldari value each life of their kin above all else — unlike humans, who are willing to ruthlessly grind thousands and even millions of their own people into dust in the name of their God-Emperor.

Laarthyr Cairnareth is different from the rest of his kind. At some point in his life, he left his craftworld, choosing the fate of Anhrathe — one of the free-roaming Aeldari corsairs who prefer freedom to the rigid rules and restrictions of the Asuryani. Now, he has abandoned his fleet for a mysterious and suicidal mission on one of the many worlds swarming with the primitive and narrow-minded hordes of Humanity. He has psychic powers that even the most powerful humans would not dare wield and a handful of unreliable mon-keigh allies fighting by his side. Against him stands an entire Imperium that would like nothing better than to see his annihilation. While his kin seek safety and camaraderie among their own kind, Laarthyr alone has stepped into the abyss, following a path only he knows.

Laarthyr is also a Way Seeker, able to identify safe routes for his people’s ships through the tangled and treacherous labyrinth of the Webway — the mysterious dimension the Aeldari use to travel the galaxy. But there is a dark side to this talent: it is the Way Seeker who must guide the souls of fallen kin to their final refuge, the spirit stones, which protect dead Aeldari from the jaws of She Who Thirsts — one of the Chaos Gods.

When Laarthyr has a chance encounter with an acolyte of the Holy Inquisition investigating the mystery of the Tyrant Star, this agent of the Golden Throne may turn their weapon against the accursed xenos, forever separating their respective paths. Yet should the acolyte see fit to put aside ancient enmity for the sake of survival, the aloof and arrogant Corsair will become a valuable ally to them in this dark time — a decision that will bring the acolyte one step closer to being branded a radical.