The Emperor of Perinthia rules with an iron fist. Young boys are torn from their families at just ten years old, forced into military conscription. Soldiers are forbidden from marrying, while only the Emperor's loyal officers and nobility are permitted wives. Beliefs outside the greatness of the throne have been brutally crushed - temples burned, devotees killed or enslaved. Yet a glimmer of hope persists in secret.
Roshin grew up an orphan on the docks of the southern port city of Ancalah. Taken in by a sister of the faith of Hulen Ahir, she was trained in the healing arts, as well as the forbidden truths of the old religion. Traveling the country as a healer, Roshin has witnessed the Empire's oppressive degradation of the social order. But the reality hits home when she and her companions are seized and sold into bondage.
With her world consumed by darkness, Roshin clings to the faith's prophecy - that light will come on the back of a dragon, when a destined rider rises again to crush the Empire's tyranny. And now, it seems that rider has arrived.