Istanbul, 1593- returning from their previous mission with the death of their Commander weighing heavily upon them, there is no respite for the Ruzgar unit, as they are declared traitors to the Ottoman Empire and banished from the legendary Janissary order. Even the recovery of the fabled Armour of David, so prized by the Sultan is not enough to prevent this. Now, desperate and on the run, Will must turn to the sinister Earl of Rothminster as an unlikely protector. Meanwhile Awa and the remaining Ruzgar, outcasts as far as the authorities are concerned, are nevertheless called upon by their small band of supporters to protect the very people who have declared them enemies of the empire, as a mysterious force threatens to engulf the capital. All roads lead to Istanbul and all who traverse it, will be plagued by a demon's touch...

A small undercover unit of hand-picked, trusted warriors is assembled to track down the thieves who have stolen the Staff held by Moses as he parted the Red Sea. They are the `Ruzgar' - the `Wind' - and like the wind, they travel silently and unseen. Awa, the studious daughter of a noble family from the Songhai Empire in West Africa, was kidnapped and enslaved by Moroccans after the disastrous Battle of Tondibi. Awa is a whirling and deadly force when she has a scimitar in her hand. Will, who was snatched from his home in London at the age of 5, is now 16 and a galley slave on board a Moroccan warship. Joining the Ruzgar turns him into a man. He and Awa become fast friends. The other comrades are Turkish, Greek and Albanian, all led by the charismatic Bosnian Mehmed Konjic, a wise counsellor and natural hero. The Ruzgar's pursuit of a network of rogues takes them across continents and into many perilous situations. The action is fast and furious, with dire situations requiring a Houdini to escape from . . . set against thrilling backdrops including deserts, oceans, dungeons, the roofs of the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul, the canals of Venice and the court of Queen Elizabeth I at Nonsuch Palace in Surrey. The task to reclaim the Staff is a mission that is (almost) impossible . . .

Istanbul, 1592: the arrival of a mysterious manuscript at the court of Sultan Murad III, claiming to know the location of the fabled Armour of King David, sends the Sultan into a frenzied desire to track it down. Despite being the most powerful man in the world, he has never led armies into battle and craves the protection of the legendary breastplate before he takes the field. It is to the elite Ruzgar unit that the Sultan turns to locate the Armour. This journey will be dangerous. Each warrior is aware that it could change their lives forever, and that for some of them, this mission to find King David's Armour will be their last.