Present Tense. In the midst of the horror of the first World War, a stranger falls from nowhere into the mud and death of the Flanders battlefield bruised, babbling, and stark naked with a remarkable story to tell. Wrongly accused murderer Edward Exeter has reappeared on this Earth bearing scars and secrets. From somewhere he calls next door--a place old godly intrigues and an ancient prophecy that he wants no part of. But powerful forces on both sides of a mystical border have other plans for the young fugitive. And now, in the company of loyal comrades, he must flee murderous pursuers from two separate worlds. But there is no escape from his destiny. For Exeter has obligations to the past and the future that must be met...if myriad civilizations are to survive.