Varfaún is on the brink of war. The once-great kingdom now rots under the rule of King Arrand Galborn, a tyrant whose hunger for power has twisted the land and its people. His armies march under a banner of blood, and in the blackened depths beneath his fortress, something far more sinister stirs. Delwyn Aldsund was once Galborn’s sworn bodyguard—until she betrayed him. Sentenced to death, she awaited the executioner’s blade, only to be rescued at the last moment by a mysterious cloaked elf, Vaelor. Now hunted by the king’s Black Hounds, she flees across the fractured realm, burdened by questions without answers. Why did Vaelor save her? And what horrifying truth lies at the heart of Galborn’s growing power? With the rebellion rising and dark forces creeping into the world, Delwyn and her unlikely allies must make a desperate journey to Ember Peaks, the last bastion of hope. But what awaits them is beyond anything she imagined—a hidden stronghold, a council of leaders who know more about her past than she does… and a weapon of legend slumbering beneath the mountain. The war for Varfaún has only begun.