The lost ones, the children of war – after the fall of the Red Wall orphans abound. With no family, no home, they have but one place to go – the so-called Warphanage; where they will train to become the world’s next generation of champion defenders. But the school has become a prison . . . Their lessons now taught through the crack of the whip. Some push on, growing stronger with every lash, while others fall, and are never seen again . . . In the end, their new destiny is clear . . . a death-march into the Black Door. But one student has not only grown strong through his trials . . . he has attained perfection because of them. And Rian intends to use his skills not in the Rift, but against his new masters.