Book excerpt: The earth has grown weary, for it has endured the passing of many dreadful ages. The exact year has slipped out of all knowledge. Several nuclear and biological wars have saturated the soil with toxic chemicals and radiation, causing all living things to suffer. The people remaining on this dismal planet have learned to survive off of very little. Pain and suffering have become commonplace. Over time, one man rose above all others. He became extremely powerful. He was able to feed multitudes of people and supply their every need, easily swaying them into believing that he was their god. He drew a large following of people who longed to worship him. He became known as the Holy Commander. As his power grew stronger, he became increasingly more evil. The worship of any other gods was forbidden, forcing nearly all Spiritual Partisans underground...Then Shae was born.