On the run from the king who banished her and the allies who betrayed her, Enebish travels with Serik and a band of rebels to find the deposed King of Verdenet, who is their only hope of uniting the Protected Territories and bringing peace to Ashkar.

Meanwhile, the Sky King’s patience with Ghoa has run its course. Enemy forces are bearing down on the Sky Palace, and when Ghoa throws all her power into a last-ditch effort to prove herself, the Sky King and her fellow warriors abandon her. Captured by enemy Zemyans, Ghoa is imprisoned and tortured by the merciless Kartok. Surprisingly, it’s not the Sky King he craves information on—but the First Gods, and the very nature of her otherworldly power.

Spirits fracture and alliances wither, as the monstrous outcast, the irreverent monk, and the disgraced warrior are drawn into a fight that will shape the course of an empire.