Gorluin Fleming heads the British Secret Service’s Special Branch, which monitors non-human activities. Fleming’s ancestors have been in charge of the Special Branch since King James I. His paternal grandfather married an elf, which makes Fleming a quarter-elf. Dark family secrets haunt Fleming as he takes on the Dream Whisperer in his most challenging mission yet.

Rebecca Mumm is a young, French scientist with Jewish roots. She is a doctor in marine biology and oceanography. She worked at the Museum of Natural History in Paris before the French government seconded her to the Special Branch to serve as a liaison officer. She is eager to make her name as a respected scientist but struggles in a world dominated by men. Dr Mumm quickly becomes Fleming’s confidante and her sharp mind is a valuable asset in the battle against the Dream Whisperer.

Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock Holmes’s smarter, older brother, also called M, is Fleming’s boss and so much more. He is not just Britain’s supreme spymaster. M only answers to the British monarch. He is the enigmatic, unelected mastermind who decides his country’s political agenda. All government officials defer to him. M’s towering intellect serves only one goal, and that is to protect the interests of the British Empire at all costs. M is ruthless and cunning, but he has never faced an adversary of the Dream Whisperer’s stature.

Ove Eliassen is a Professor Emeritus at the History Department of the University of Uppsala in Sweden. The professor specialises in ancient languages and religions, and also in esotericism. He worked for the Swedish equivalent of the Special Branch. Fleming recruited him right before the start of the Great War, when his own specialist died in a freak accident. Eliassen is a jovial man who develops an instant fatherly liking for Dr Mumm. His masterful insights into ancient texts guide Fleming in his quest to discover and destroy the Sleeper sites to prevent the Outer Gods’ return. However, not all is what it seems, and the wisdom of ancient learning is challenged as the battle unfolds.

Morris Selman Wheeling is a struggling artist and a gifted sorcerer. He fought in France during the Great War. The man has a rebellious streak that does not tolerate authority. His attitude doesn’t fit well with government service, but his magical abilities allow Fleming’s team to take the fight to the Dream Whisperer’s home territory, the Dreamlands. But how can he even think his spells could subdue his mighty opponent? Their confrontation defies all imagination.

The countess does not look a day over thirty-five in 1916, but her birth certificate states she was born in 1812. The secret behind her eternal youth is dark. The countess is possessed by an Outer God — Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos, the last one of his kind on this planet. Nyarlathotep manifests himself as the Dream Whisperer and has turned the countess into his slave. He uses her to get the impressionable Gavrilo Princip to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, triggering the First World War. The Dream Whisperer also has other plans. He releases a Cthulhu from a church crypt in a bombed-out Flemish village near Ypres. Is it the first step in the Outer Gods’ return to Earth?

The Yellow Priest is the Dream Whisperer’s avatar in the Dreamlands. In this form, he presides over horrible rituals in a sinister monastery on the fabled Plateau of Leng. Hooded priests in red robes sacrifice thousands of victims on six blood-soaked altars in a perpetual, gory ceremony while inhuman drummers and flute players drench the scene in insane rhythms and shrieking noises. The spectacle hints at the Dream Whisperer’s true nature and holds unexpected revelations for Wheeling.

When the Outer Gods departed from Earth, they left dozens of Sleeper sites all over the planet where Cthulhus lay dreaming, awaiting their awakening. Ancient manuscripts predict the Outer Gods’ return to Earth when the stars are right. It takes five Cthulhus to open the portal. The Dream Whisperer awakens one Cthulhu after another. Will Fleming and his team be able to stop the Dream Whisperer before he has a complete set?

Moloch is a horrible, ancient god who rejoiced in the sacrifices of young children. Those days are long gone. Now, he is the Dream Whisperer’s servant. He drives him around, acts as his bodyguard, and does not hesitate to resort to murderous violence to protect his lord’s interests. But there is more. He has a terrible connection to Fleming’s past. Old scores are waiting to be settled.

Dagon is an ancient sea god and lifelong ally of the Outer Gods. Dagon’s cult is alive and well. His army of amphibian warriors grows strong as his worshippers turn into sea creatures. Dagon is waiting to strike a major blow against humankind. The Dream Whisperer should be his natural ally, but their relationship is marked by suspicion and envy. Dagon faces difficult choices as the Dream Whisperer’s plans reveal themselves.