This eleventh entry in Kyoko Hikawa's fourteen-volume fantasy epic chronicling the adventures of two star-crossed lovers from different worlds, who are caught up in a dark prophecy foretelling that one will transform the other into a terrible world-destroying monster, opens in Coropori, the Aibisk port city to which Noriko, Izark and their companions had come at the close of the tenth episode. Still struggling against the corrupt local officials, who seem determined to make life difficult for this new band of traveling "merchants," Alef schemes to sell the last of the group's wares by luring people in with an acrobatic display featuring none other than...Izark. When the unofficial show attracts the attention of town official Arkarella, and Izark is pressed into service as entertainment for Lord Hydran, passing through town with an important prisoner, the companions see an opportunity to rescue another victim of the worsening political climate. But although the dissident scholar Mr. Clairgeeta, with his alternative interpretation of the prophecy, may offer the first ray of hope to our hero and heroine, his rescue and the group's subsequent flight bring the terrifying and not-altogether-human Brunei brothers chasing after them...

This was another exciting addition to the series, and I enjoyed reading it quite a bit. Many of the scenes in Coropori were quite amusing, particularly those in which Izark performed his feats while also humiliating the oafish bully, Salier. The introduction of Mr. Clairgeeta, with his belief that the sky demon might not be evil at all, but rather, a force for good, was the first intimation in the story that the prophecy might be something to be embraced, rather than defeated or avoided. This alternative way of looking at matters gives Izark his first true hope, as he feels a "lighted path" opening up before him for the first time, but Hikawa doesn't allow the reader to linger with that comforting thought for long, as a terrifying chase and confrontation concludes the volume. I had no sooner finished this one, than I was reaching for the next, determined to find out how the battle with the Brunei brothers concluded... ( )

Noriko and Izark, along with their new traveling companions, have arrived in a new village with its own set of problems. Also, hope is discovered when they learn of a political prisoner who has a new point of view on the legend of the Sky Demon and the Awakening. This volume had some cute moments between Izark and Noriko but was mostly all about the ongoing political maneuverings which seem to have moved to the forefront of the plot. I'm looking forward to the next volume after another cliffhanger ending. ( )