The Empire has lived in peace for 16 years, but trouble is brewing behind the Grey Mountains, where the renegade nation of Rahain prepares; arming itself for a long-awaited war of vengeance.Karalyn, the 18 year old daughter of two war heroes, is trying to find a place for herself in the world. Her own powers were deemed so dangerous she spent much of her childhood in exile. Now, the lure of the Imperial Capital and the prospect of service to the Empress is pulling her out of isolation and into the affairs of the world. Hundreds of miles to the south, within the repressive land of Rahain, Lennox trains for the war to come. He and his comrades-in-arms, the children of slaves stolen from another land, have been trained as soldiers their entire lives for one purpose... …to bring the Empire to its knees.