Zoltan cleans up his hooves in his chamber, after having to deal with various hassles during the time since his battle with the Titan and settling an uneasy peace between the warring factions of Abaddon. Some of those hassles have included battles against the "Rotbiters" – gooshurm-like creatures with a far more fatal bite – which infest the Canals that criss-cross much of Abaddon, and branch into the Pit of Himar.

Zoltan is first visited by the Emerald Champion and Lancer Malachite, who inform him that the armor of the Champion of Shadows has been restored. They ask him to take it back to Sinai, to the Knights there. Zoltan agrees to take on this quest.

Next, Son-of-Swords and Bearer-of-Arms – the cheetahs who challenged Zoltan to a battle against a Lawgiver Titan – visit the hippogryph. Bearer-of-Arms presents Zoltan with a broken crystal from the Titan – a memento of his victory against a much larger and more powerful opponent.

Zoltan has two more cheetahs as visitors – this time Born-in-Shame and Tomorrow's-Hope, both rescued from the Progenitor by Zoltan's own talons. They wish to go along … but for the purpose of fighting to free their brethren on Sinai. Zoltan tries to talk sense into them. Tomorrow's-Hope is dissuaded from going at all, though Born-in-Shame is willing to be subject to some humiliation in order to serve the cause better.

Zoltan is at last visited by Kensington and Wynona. The two have been fielding questions from the curious people of Abaddon, and dealing with other minor adventures during the last couple of weeks. They discuss how they're going to get back to Abaddon – and just how much trouble a cheetah like Born-in-Shame might be – and various other topics.