Erana Flynn has been struggling as a magus in a world where magic is dying. Her best friend Helene is about to be married and her mentor Matthias, one of the few remaining magi left in Hylana, may soon be leaving her too. On top of it all, one of Helene's wedding guests - the burly and self-important captain Bromm Gavinmoor - has thrust his way into her comfortable life, drawing Erana into a centuries-old mystery that is connected to her own past more directly than she knows. Meanwhile, a lonely traveller known only as Tilkin rides toward Hylana with news about the ominous movements of the Niorans, a strange new people from across the sea. When he's waylaid in Elswrath by the eccentric Lord of the Fairies, he sends a desperate note to rally the San, the desert-dwellers in the south, for war. Before either country can ready itself for combat, Tilkin's worst predictions become a horrifying reality, setting into motion events that threaten to forever change the face of the continent. Magic clashes with military might, dreams commingle with reality, and a disparate cast of characters comes together to survive in a world on the verge of war. Both Erana and Tilkin must face their haunted pasts as decisions made half a millennium ago begin to impact the present, and a devastating history is in danger of repeating itself. Follow the author @ken_mallory