When Zahir, a desert nomad with a dark past, entered Ashet, he wasn't expecting to be hauled off to prison. When Absalom deserted the military, he never thought an army would form around him to fight the most powerful women in the country. Marietta believed she'd die in a cell in the Black Caves. She never expected freedom or to join with other broken souls to end the torture and experimentation for good. Desdemona seized the throne of the Order of Obsidian Embers ready to implement her vision of a safer world. She never imagined such opposition. Not that it would stop her. With magical warfare, mad rulers, and old scores to settle, how can anyone know hero from villain? And if the people who have been fighting for years can't tell the difference, how can Zahir choose the right side?