The mercenaries of Vastrum have brutalized the empire's colonies on the far side of the world. The Company has extracted aethium, the magical drug that powers Vastrum's wizards, from indigo flowers that grow high on the hills in the far flung colony of Vurun. Now a reckoning has come. The dead have risen, and rebellion is sweeping the province. Twenty thousand soldiers and civilians dead or captured. The worst military disaster in the long history of the Vastrum Empire. A lone survivor arrives at the gates of Andaban to warn the garrison, and to tell the story of the death of an army. Note: While set in a fantasy world, much of this story was inspired by true historical events. Especially the very worst and most jaw-droppingly stupid parts. Read the second book in the series: Hand of the Wicked