It is the year 1878, and in the heart of America's untamed new frontier lurks a dark force as ancient as time, buried deep inside the earth, awaiting its return to power. Evil men are exploiting the riches of the West in order to bring that awakening about, using strange machinery and fantastic devices to further their ends. Only two men, warriors from two different cultures can stand together to defeat them and save the world from the terror of the Faceless. Gunslinger Gabriel Tyler and Indian shaman Jonathan Fivehawk have tracked the evil rail baron Robur Drache, to Winterville, high in the snow-covered mountains of the north. In his service to the Faceless, Drache has a legion of immigrant workers constructing a railroad which seems to have no start and no destination...While Tyler wonders after Drache's plan, Fivehawk is distracted by his own concerns; somewhere nearby is Eyes-Like-Amber, his sister, abducted by Drache's outriders for reasons unknown. Meanwhile, a young Chinese girl named Yu Lim is also investigating Drache's intents, with a duty of her own to follow.