The world is descending, inexorably, towards war.

So why has First Wizard Baraccus, leader of the New World, lover of life, thrown himself from the walls of the Wizard's Keep, falling thousands of feet to his death? His wife, Magda Searus, cannot understand why her husband would abandon her and his people at such a profoundly dangerous time. And then she finds a note left by Baraccus, urging her to seek the truth.

What she uncovers, no one is willing to believe.

The coming war is going far worse than anyone had anticipated, and the consequences of defeat will be far more terrifying than they could have imagined. Alone, ungifted, it is up to Magda Searus to make history and change the future.