From Sarah Ash, acclaimed author of the Tears of Artamon trilogy, comes the conclusion to the story begun in Tracing the Shadow , a fantasy masterpiece of truly epic proportions. In a clash of kingdoms and rebels, of magicians and inquisitors, two young mages must find the resolution and courage they need to save both the world...and themselves.

As an impulsive young man, Rieuk Mordiern accidentally freed Azilis—a guardian spirit charged with keeping the balance between the kingdoms of the living and the dead. And now his sole purpose is to bring her back: to restore the balance that he so carelessly upset. Only Azilis does not want to return. Instead she has attached herself to a very talented mortal—the renowned singer Celestine—becoming, as Celestine believes, her personal guardian.

And Celestine has never needed a guardian more. Her desire for revenge against the people who consigned her magician father to the flames is leading her farther down a dangerous path as she learns to use the powers he deeded her at his death. Powers that are bringing her to the attention of an Inquisition determined to stamp out every last trace of magic from the world.

But chaos is growing. Seven daemons from another realm, once imprisoned, are now threatening to return and lay siege to the mortal world. The boundaries between life and death are slowly eroding. And to prevent the end of all things, both Rieuk and Celestine must discover what it means to truly be a hero....