In the remote mining village of Aystin, Karsen Morgate secretly longs to explore the world outside the town walls; but instead dutifully spends his nights protecting the precious Cloudstone tiles—mined by his father, and engraved with mystical symbols and lore by the reclusive Adept Noxyn. When his half-brother, Petr, commits a gruesome crime, Karsen is forced to flee his home, carrying with him a tile depicting a unique artifact—the Ennae—entrusted to his care by the Adept himself. Alone, ailing, and on the run, Karsen must find help, find his way, and decipher the true meaning of the Ennae. For he soon realizes that he is being pursued by the dark brotherhood of the Shroud, and that he has somehow become an unwilling pawn in an ancient conflict. The Shroud is stirring. The world of Tholann is in danger. And young Karsen Morgate is in the middle of it.

It’s been almost two months since Karsen Morgate fled Aystin, and he’s still running for his life. Colored with loss, death and betrayal, his journey has intersected with the nefarious Shroud and the deadly Fashwei, an ancient martial brotherhood trained in stealth and brutality. With danger at every turn, Karsen does the only thing he knows to do: he keeps going. He still carries the Cloudstone carving bestowed upon him by Adept Noxyn, and is determined to deliver it to Adept Ghyre as he promised. The only problem is that Adept Ghyre is nowhere to be found—if he even still lives. As Karsen slowly puts the pieces together, he comes to realize that his mission is more intricately tied up with the history of Tholann than he ever could have imagined—and more shockingly, it somehow involves the disappearance of his sister, Elysse, six years earlier. For it appears that Karsen himself is playing a central role in fulfilling an ancient prophecy, one that will bring him face to face with an unimaginably powerful evil, and lead him to the greatest mystery of them all: The Rithhek Cage.