There has already been an unfathomable cost. And there is more yet to pay. Gilderan has fallen. Li'or, Hashkan, and Emond barely escaped with their lives. Scarred and with more questions than they started with, the battle-hardened trio arrives in Pinescar looking for the true power behind Ordelieus' short, but violent, reign. All the while, the Fabric around them continues to destabilize, releasing horrors beyond anything they dared to imagine. Gemni Sy'ing smuggles herself from Rak-Shai to Anagovia, where being found would sign her death warrant. Bound by a prophecy written in the stars, she must find the only people who can fight the coming darkness and bring them back with her to face their fate. Meanwhile, worlds away, a civilization teeters on the brink of extinction with no hope of salvation as their world unravels around them. Could the arrival of a group of blood-painted strangers be their last chance for escape?