"Once this place had a name. A place dear to all of the Yeddura. They called it G'yerrap. There was a sea nearby. It was lush, full of life, verdant, more than anywhere else on this planet. I still live with the decision of which I played a part to turn this world and its sisters into a ruin. You see, young one, terrible powers require terrible responses and create terrible consequences. One of these is before you even now. And I would not wish you to have to live with the consequences of the choice you desire to make this very day."
So said Espoirtyl to Michael Liddle regarding the ancient devastation of B'arnith, and not long after surviving his clash with Rogdul and his subsequent struggles to come to terms with the fact that Maddy Ellis is lost to him.
Similarly, his bonding with Alowyn comes to an end with her ascension to the throne. She must give meaning and purpose to the deaths of her parents and siblings by surrendering herself in service to her people, to all the trillions who comprise the Tylani empire. In the midst of her on-going grief, both with dissolving her binding with Michael and with the loss of her family, she must deal with Count Tarjon who continues to plot to usurp her authority and position.
In the aftermath of his battle with Michael, Rogdul discovers that his shattered body is beyond medical repair. Nonetheless he remains bent on gaining his revenge. And he is determined to thwart what he still considers the ultimate threat to the Elhadra empire: the enigmatic Ideema Gift. It still remains unclear if it is a weapon or something else altogether. In Rogdul's mind it doesn't matter. All that is of consequence is the need to stop Michael Liddle.
Over the months which follow, Michael learns of the other abilities his Q-gen has granted him, though as Espoirtyl has warned him they also carry within their attributes a danger: one with which Michael grapples to fully understand. The Search for the Ideema Gift continues to be an onerous and exasperating quest, full of unfathomable complexities and confusion, and no small number of perils.
When Michael and his team finally reach the world where the next component lies hidden, they soon realize they are not alone. Rogdul is hot on their heels and it doesn't take long before they discover that the planet is just as deadly as the Elhadra themselves. And in the midst of these final trials, Michael comes to the full realization that the Ideema prophecy has been true all along: he is the Chosen. Chosen to be the Cast-Out and the Forsaken.