An arcane artist finds himself in the middle of a carnival with no memory of how he got there. Fortunately for him, the performers are more than willing to help a strange boy wearing pajamas and paint stains. Unfortunately, he soon realizes that his graduation project has been stolen with the due date looming. He and his new friends track down the thief only to discover that the magic inside it has broken-- along with much of the magic in the city. After the master artists dismiss their evidence and scoff at help from carnies, the dorks decide to fix the problem themselves even if it means cooperating with teammates they're rather push down the stairs. Bickering, pranks, and a reluctant kidnapping aside, things would have gone fine if someone hadn't decided to make things personal. (This was previously two books [Colorweaver and Sentinel], both in the 3rd draft before I decided to combine them.)

Caught in the act of reckless problem solving, the dorks are given an assignment by the Artisans' guild: investigate the people behind the magical glitches, which sources say are in the neighboring country of Galanvoth. Whether this task is punishment or reward is anyone's guess, although the ones chosen are pretty sure it's the first. A plan is made to infiltrate suspect locations using fake identities and the less-than-lawful background of the least reliable dork. Mistaken memories of the past and a grudge from the present put the plan into jeopardy, and it just might be up to a ghost, a time traveler, and a more competent version of the probably-criminal to put the world back on track.

Trouble next door leads to trouble far away and the dorks are seriously questioning how they got wrapped up in all this. One day they're chasing down a thief, the next they're roped into a government conspiracy, and today they're stepping through a doorway into snow - - and into a mistake made a decade and a lifetime ago. Maybe this time things will go differently. Maybe this time they're who they always needed to be. Maybe this time things won't explode, split in two, disappear, or try to blackmail them. All they have to do is help bring down a cruel mythos and unite what is with the mistake that created what isn't. That's a walk in the park compared to dealing with ex boyfriends and familial expectations.