After breaching the Fog and finding the ship beyond, Eila Doyle finds herself confronting a truth: her land of Alterra, contrary to what she's been taught, isn't alone—and Parliament, it seems, has been keeping yet another horrible secret. The band of rebels at Alterra's borders is presided over by Admiral Wellington: a man who needs Eila's reality-bending talents … but requires that she turn traitor in order to provide them. Wellington's arguments are convincing, pointing to atrocities Alterra has committed and the army of dragons and demons being built by the all-too-real Dark King … but is Wellington all he seems, or does he have other motives? Meanwhile Eila's friend Cora, trapped between the same forces, wages a private war—playing both sides between Alterra and its foes, old friends who've turned enemy and new allies. As her old friend suffers, Eila makes friends among the warriors of the Flock: the massive Obsidian, who wields a club. Lithe Abbie, with a score to settle. And quiet Eve, who has her own agenda. But as the big change nears, Eila and Cora both face a dilemma: are the newcomers here to liberate Alterra … or to destroy it?